Court rejects request for Akbar's release
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung will remain in detention until the verdict in his graft trial is delivered after the Central Jakarta District Court rejected on Monday demands for his release.
Presiding Judge Amiruddin Zakaria announced the decision during the second hearing of the high profile scandal involving State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and implicating Akbar and codefendants, Dadang Sukandar and Winfried Simatupang.
Earlier, Akbar's lawyer Amir Syamsuddin filed an objection to the detention of his client and requested the court to release him because Akbar "will not hamper the ongoing trial by disposing of evidence and documents needed for investigation, or fleeing."
A similar request was also voiced by the lawyer of Dadang and Winfried, L.M.M. Samosir, with the same reasons given.
Akbar, along with Dadang and Winfried, have been under detention for almost a month and their lawyers have persistently asked the court to release them.
According to Amir, Akbar deserved to be released because he had not been declared guilty.
"Pak Akbar remains a suspect and has not yet been declared guilty by the court. The court should heed our request as we, his lawyers, feel uncomfortable talking with our client while he is being jailed," Amir told reporters after the hearing.
The trial was moved to the Jakarta Fairground as the Central Jakarta District Court could not accommodate the huge number of onlookers.
Hundreds of people occupied the 3,000 square meter exhibition hall, which had been set up as a courtroom. Among the attendees were several Golkar Party executives, legislators and Akbar's wife Krisnina Maharani. Some 400 police personnel and bomb squad personnel guarded the compound.
All visitors were searched before being allowed to enter the makeshift air-conditioned courtroom.
The court has added two judges, Herri Swantoro and Pramodana K. Kusumah Atmadja, to the initial panel of three.
Looking healthy and wearing a brown suit, Akbar entered the courtroom to the applause of his supporters who already occupied the venue hours before the session opened at 10:30 a.m., or about half an hour past schedule.
Akbar, along with Dadang and Winfried, have been charged with violating the Anticorruption Law, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in jail for their involvement in the suspected misuse of Rp 40 billion (US$4 million) in Bulog funds.
Akbar, at that time minister/state secretary, was assigned by president B.J. Habibie in 1999 to carry out a charity program. The aid never reached the intended recipients, however.
In the middle of investigation both Dadang and Winfried suddenly gave back the money to prosecutors, saying that "they had never used the money for the program and only put it under Winfried's bed."
Many believe that the money was used by the Golkar Party to fund its campaign for the 1999 general election. Golkar named Habibie as its presidential candidate.
Amiruddin adjourned the trial until April, 8, to decide whether the court would continue after hearing the response of state prosecutors to the lawyers' rebuttal.