High Court acquits Sjahril of all charges
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an unexpected move, the Jakarta High Court acquitted Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin of all charges in connection with his involvement in the 1999 Bank Bali scandal, overturning the decision of the Central Jakarta District Court to sentence him to three years in prison.
High Court chief Ridwan Nasution confirmed that the court acquitted Sjahril on Aug. 12 of all charges in the high-profile corruption case involving the disbursement of Rp 904 billion (US$90.4 million) of Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) funds to privately run Bank Bali in 1999.
"Free," Ridwan said briefly, but refused to explain further.
The Central Jakarta District Court spokesman, Andi Samsan Nganro confirmed that he had obtained the copy of the High Court's verdict on the acquittal of Sjahril at about 5 p.m. on Thursday.
"The High Court overturned the Central Jakarta District Court's verdict. It said that the defendant is not guilty of all charges," he said.
The High Court also ordered "the restoration of the defendant's rights and reputation."
On March 13, a panel of judges at the district court -- consisting of Judge Subardi, Asep Irwan Iriawan and Ali Akmal Haky -- found the 59-year-old defendant guilty of violating Article 1 of the 1971 Law on corruption, prohibiting the enrichment of oneself or others at the expense of the state.
The verdict also said that Sjahril had violated prudential banking principles, which requires bankers to follow procedures in banking activities.
At the time, Sjahril vowed to appeal the verdict as two other defendants involved in the same case -- businessman and director of factoring firm PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) Djoko S. Tjandra and former IBRA deputy chairman Pande N. Lubis -- were acquitted of all charges related to the scandal in August 2000 and November 2000 respectively.
PT EGP is owned by Golkar legislator Setya Novanto.
The Bank Bali scandal drew public attention after banking law expert Pradjoto told the media on Aug. 1, 1999, that the disbursement of Rp 904 billion to Bank Bali was made possible with the help of PT EGP, which accepted Rp 546 billion in commission from the bank after managing to get IBRA to disburse the fund.
The Rp 546 billion commission received by PT EGP was believed to have been used to finance the reelection campaign of then president B.J. Habibie, who failed to get reelected in the October 1999 election.
Sjahril was detained for over five months by the prosecutor's office after declaring him a suspect in the scandal in June 2000. But he refused to step down from his position, claiming that he was innocent.
But he also not detained after the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced him to three years in prison in March.