'Graft case loaded with politics'
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Central Bank Governor Syahril Sabirin said Wednesday that politics had highlighted his trial on corruption charges linked to the Bank Bali scandal in 1999 which led to government losses of Rp 904 billion (more than US$90 million).
The case was not just a legal matter with former attorney general Marzuki Darusman charging him on then president Abdurrahman Wahid's orders in attempts to remove Syahril from his post as the central bank governor, Syahril said in his 50-page defense at the Central Jakarta District Court.
"This trial is a consequence of my rejection of the president's wishes. He said he would make me a defendant in the Bank Bali case if I did not resign but offered me an ambassador's posting if I did resign," he told the court.
Prosecutor Y.W. Mere had earlier asked the court to sentence Syahril to four years imprisonment for violating Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Anticorruption Law No 3/1971.
According to the prosecution, the defendant had abused his power by approving the disbursement of Rp 904 billion of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) funds to Bank Bali.
Bank Bali claimed the money to cover its loans to several banks which had failed to pay their debts.
The scandal drew public attention as the approval was made with the involvement of a third party, namely PT Era Giat Prima, which later received some Rp 546 billion from Bank Bali as commission in helping secure the payment.
PT EGP was owned by people closely connected with a small group in the Golkar party who were responsible for the reelection of then president B.J. Habibie, who lost his post in October 1999.
Syahril also said in his defense that he never attended the meeting in Mulia Hotel on Feb. 11, 1999 to discuss the approval for the Bank Bali loan.
According to the prosecutor, the meeting was organized by Djoko S. Tjandra, head of PT EGP, and was attended by Syahril, former Bank Bali director Rudy Ramli, former minister of investment and state enterprises and development Tanri Abeng, former chairman of the Supreme Council A.A. Baramuli, Golkar treasurer and businessman Setya Novanto, as well as businessmen Firman Soetjahja and Irvan Gunardwi.
Djoko and former IBRA deputy chairman Pande Nasoroha Lubis was acquitted on all charges related to the Bank Bali scandal last year.
Presiding Judge Soebardi adjourned the hearing for two weeks to hear the defense.