Court refuses to defer trial

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court rejected a request from Hendra Rahardja's lawyers to postpone his trial until the Supreme Court made a statement on the case.

Hendra, a former commissioner of Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS), is accused of abusing Rp 2.7 trillion (US$317.65 billion) in Bank Indonesia liquidity support.

The court is trying Hendra, along with Eko Edi Putranto and Sherny Konjongian, in absentia since their whereabouts are unknown.

Alamsyah Hanafiah and OC Kaligis produced a letter from Hendra appointing them as his lawyers.

"This letter proves he is here.. He does not deserve to be tried in absentia since he is not a fugitive," Alamsyah remarked, adding that Hendra had previously gone to court in Australia to fight being extradited to Indonesia.

Alamsyah added that he had asked the Supreme Court to make a statement on his client's case and asked that the district court postpone the trial until the Supreme Court responded.

However, Judge Soebardi rejected his request, saying the letter from Hendra was dated Aug. 16, while Hendra's case had been submitted to the court on July 17.

"We will proceed to try him in absentia until we receive a statement from the Supreme Court," he announced.(04)