Court told to reject ex-banker's pleas
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)