Court mix-up thwarts justice
Court mix-up thwarts justice
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 take action to ensure the proper
execution of the verdict against David, alias Ng Tjuen Wie.
The AGO, however, failed to explain why the prosecutors did
not contact the Supreme Court to ask for a copy of the verdict
shortly 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 -- 12
months after the verdict had originally been handed down -- but
to no avail. It remains unclear why the prosecutors waited so
long to seek a copy of the Supreme Court judgment.
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 fled abroad.
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 managed to flee abroad 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.