Court sets Amelia Yani free

YOGYAKARTA: The Sleman District Court acquitted Amelia Yani and two other defendants of all graft charges on Saturday in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta province.

Amelia Yani, the daughter of anti-communist general Achmad Yani, who is also the chairwoman of Tirtayani Utama Cooperative, obtained Rp 2 billion (US$200,000) from state-run Karya Abadi Fund (DAKAB) foundation a few years ago and distributed the fund to salak (snakefruit) and raw silk farmers in Yogyakarta in the form of cheap loans. As the farmers could not repay the loans, the foundation took Amelia and the cooperative's secretary and treasurer Glinding and Sayuti Rustam to court. The court acquitted them because the three had repaid the money to Dakab and therefore had not caused losses to the state.

Achmad Yani was among seven generals killed by members of the now defunct the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), who attempted to seize power in 1965. Achmad Yani was named a revolution hero along with the other anti-PKI Army generals killed. -- Antara