Court told to reject ex-banker's pleas

JAKARTA (JP): Prosecutors asked the South Jakarta District Court on Monday to reject the arguments advanced by the lawyers for former Bank Aspac director Hendrawan Harjono and asked the court to continue with the trial.

Hendrawan is being tried for allegedly misallocating Rp 583.4 billion (US$63.4 million) in Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) funds.

"The counterstatement made by the lawyers is not supported by strong legal grounds and arguments," prosecutor Soetantyo told the hearing presided over by Judge Muchtar Ritonga.

Soetantyo said the lawyers' counterstatement ran contrary to Article 156 of the Criminal Code Procedures, which stipulated the procedures for filing objections to a court's jurisdiction to hear a criminal case.

"The prosecution has accurately and thoroughly compiled the indictment in accordance with the law.

"Therefore, the South Jakarta District Court has jurisdiction to hear the defendant's case based on the prosecutors' indictment," he said.

Hendrawan, along with then Bank Aspac president Setiawan Harjono, was arrested in April this year over his alleged wrongdoing.

Setiawan, who is to be tried separately, has yet to appear in court as he is currently hospitalized in the Mitra Keluarga hospital in East Jakarta.

In his counterstatement to the indictment, lawyer L.M.M. Samosir said the prosecutors had failed to produce sufficient evidence to justify charging the defendant.

Samosir further said the prosecutors should not have charged the defendant under the 1971 Law on Corruption, but rather under the 1992 Law on Banking.

He argued that BLBI cases involving another 47 banks had been settled through the offices of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

"We are unable to understand why only (our client) Hendrawan of PT Bank Aspac is being tried on corruption charges," Samosir said, while questioning the prosecutors' motives.

At a preliminary hearing, prosecutor Soetantyo said that Hendrawan, 46, had violated Article 1 of Law No. 3/1971 on corruption which carried a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Soetantyo alleged that the defendant between February 1998 and February 1999, along with Setiawan, had abused his authority to enrich himself or others at the expense of the state.

The prosecutor also accused Hendrawan of violating Article 49 of Law No.7/1992 on banking. This Article carries a maximum sentence of 15-years imprisonment.

Soetantyo said that Bank Aspac received Rp 583.4 billion from Bank Indonesia in December 1997 as part of the government's liquidity support scheme.

However, after receiving the funds from the central bank, Hendrawan allegedly allocated a part of the money for foreign exchange trading and to finance the operations of some corporations affiliated with Bank Aspac.

Presiding judge Muchtar Ritonga adjourned the hearing until Thursday to hear the court's pretrial ruling. (01)