Court won't replace Amiruddin

JAKARTA: The Jakarta High Court has rejected the request of the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to replace Amirrudin Zakaria, who is presiding over the trial of Bank Umum Nasional's director Leonard Tanubrata and vice commissioner Kaharuddin Ongko at the Central Jakarta District Court.

Head of the prosecutor's office Salman Maryadi said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

"We want a fair hearing, therefore we insist that the presiding judge be replaced as he appears to have sided with the defendants," he said on Friday.

Amiruddin had earlier rejected the prosecutor's request to present Oei Hoei Tiong, an executive from the central bank, as an expert witness in the Rp 6.7 trillion (US$670 million) corruption trial. --JP