Court admits causing delay in verdict execution
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta
The Supreme Court admitted to administrative shortcomings on Friday that resulted in a failure to deliver a copy of the court's final verdict on convicted corruptor David Nusa Widjaja to prosecutors for execution.
"We're still trying to find where the file is," Moegihardjo, who heads the court's criminal cases administration division, told reporters.
He said the problem had arisen following the replacement of a number of court clerks and administrators, including those who were responsible for the file on David.
The Supreme Court sentenced David, a banker, in July 2003 to eight years imprisonment and fined him Rp 1,297 trillion (US$1.38 million) to cover the cost of the losses he had inflicted on the state.
The West Jakarta District Court convicted David, the owner of Bank Servitia, and sentenced him to one year in jail for embezzling Rp 1.27 trillion in Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) funds on March 12, 2002. The court allowed him to remain at liberty pending appeal.
When the Jakarta High Court ordered his detention while it was hearing his appeal, the prosecutors said they could not find him. However, the prosecutors did not declare him a fugitive. The high court eventually sentenced him to four years imprisonment.
Justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said later that immigration records revealed that David had fled the country.
On Thursday, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) complained that prosecutors could not jail David , alias Ng Tjuen Wie, and confiscate his assets due to the absence of a copy of the verdict.
The AGO, however, failed to explain why the prosecutors did not contact the Supreme Court to ask for a copy of the verdict soon after it was handed down.
By contrast, prosecutors took the initiative of recently asking for a copy of the Supreme Court decision that rejected the request for a final review filed by convicted drug dealer Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey. Chaubey is now on death row.
The West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office finally asked the Supreme Court for a copy of the verdict on May 26 of this year, but to no avail. It remains unclear why the prosecutors asked for the verdict almost a year after the verdict had been handed down.
According to the law, prosecutors can only execute a verdict after they have received a copy of it from the relevant court.
Negligence in case administration on the part of the courts and public prosecution service has been widely blamed for allowing high profile wrongdoers to easily escape justice.
Despite the fact that the state was defrauded of more than Rp 137 trillion in BLBI funds, many of the suspects were acquitted or given light sentences, while the rest escaped justice.
High profile bankers Hendra Rahardja, Eko Edy Putranto and Sherny Konjongian of BHS Bank were tried in absentia. While Hendra eventually died in Australia, Eko and Sherny's whereabouts remain unknown to the present time.
The state is frequently unable to recover its losses in many fraud and embezzlement cases as those who are convicted have already transferred their assets abroad.
Another convicted corruptor, Samadikun Hartono of Bank BUN, also escaped justice after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal.
The Supreme Audit Agency revealed in 1999 that 48 commercial banks had misused 95 percent of the Rp 144.5 trillion extended to them by the state between 1997 and 1999 to aid them during the economic crisis.