Court decides Syahril's graft trial to continue

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court decided on Thursday to continue the graft trial of Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Syahril Sabirin, citing juridical pertinence.

Soebardi, who presided over the hearing, said the panel of judges had found the prosecutors' indictment clear enough to proceed with the trial.

"We just looked at the elements in the prosecutors' indictment which fulfill juridical requirements. That's why the trial must be continued," Soebardi told the court.

The panel of judges also dismissed arguments of the defending lawyers' who questioned the court's authority to try the case, based on the defendant's denial that he was present in a Feb. 11, 1999 meeting at Hotel Mulia in South Jakarta.

State prosecutors charged that the alleged crime was planned at Syahril's office in Central Jakarta.

Syahril is implicated in the disbursement of Rp 904 billion (US$96.2 million) of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) funds to Bank Bali. The crime violates Article 1 of the No. 3/1971 Law on Corruption, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

"If the defendant denied his presence at Hotel Mulia in the Feb. 11, 1999 meeting with Djoko S. Tjandra and Pande N. Lubis to discuss the plan to disburse the IBRA money to Bank Bali, it means that prosecutors assertion was correct," Soebardi said on Thursday.

During the hearing Syahril denied the charges, saying that he had revealed the facts related to the charges.

"So if the charges are maintained, I think all people can see who's behind this groundless indictment," he said in his 18-page defense.

Syahril, who stared seriously at the judges who took turns in reading the ruling, looked calm during the hearing.

Muhammad Assegaf, who leads Syahril's team of seven lawyers, also alleged that the case was not purely a legal matter, but politically motivated. He said the trial came amid President Abdurrahman Wahid's wish to oust Syahril as the central bank governor.

According to Assegaf, a recorded conversation between Syahril Sabirin and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman had obviously proven that the President had put pressure on the Attorney General to force Syahril to step down.

One of the judges, Asep Irawan, denied the allegation.

"There is no pressure or intervention at all. If the executive tries to intervene in the independence of the court, I will quit the case," he said.

The session was adjourned until next Wednesday to hear witnesses' testimonies. (01)