Court won't replace Amiruddin

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