In Absentia trial sees judges absent from court
In Absentia trial sees judges absent from court
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The trial of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra caused the Central
Jakarta District Court to delay reaching a verdict in the trial
of three former bankers charged with corrupting Rp 2.6 trillion.
"We decided to postpone the verdict until Friday because of
the court's (full) activities ..," presiding judge Subardi told
the hearing, which started at about 2.30 p.m., shortly after the
first day of Tommy's trial was completed.
The court was scheduled to pass its verdict on now-defunct BHS
Bank employees Hendra Rahardja, Eko Edi Putranto and Sherny
Konjongian.
Outside the courtroom, Subardi said the panel of judges, which
also comprised judge members Asep Irwan Iriawan and Herri
Swantoro, had reached a decision but they now needed to make a
few changes to the verdict.
He also claimed that he did not feel well.
Chief prosecutor Andi Rahman Asbar did not object to the
postponement.
The three defendants were tried in absentia.
Their lawyers, Alamsyah Hanafiah and OC Kaligis, said that
Hendra was detained in Australia for document forgery, while
there was no explanation about the whereabouts of the outstanding
fugitives.
But the prosecutors did not try to find them.
"We didn't know where they are. During the hearings, their
lawyers said that Hendra is in Australia but we don't know the
truth as there is no proof," the prosecutor told reporters.
The court has never ordered the prosecutors to trace the
defendants.
The lawyers claimed that they received a letter from Hendra
giving them power of attorney.
The letter was not recognized by the court. But the Supreme
Court allowed the lawyers to represent the defendants.
Last week, the team of prosecutors recommended the court to
sentence Hendra to life imprisonment and give 20 years jail terms
to both Edi and Sherny.
They also asked the court to order the defendants to pay Rp
1.95 trillion in compensation to the state.
They were charged with manipulating the Bank Indonesia
Liquidity Credit (KLBI) from 1993 to 1997 and the Bank Indonesia
Liquidity Support (BLBI) from 1997 to 1999.
During the economic crisis, the government disbursed Rp 144.5
trillion to 48 banks through Bank Indonesia. In 1999, however,
the Supreme Audit Agency revealed that 95 percent of the funds
were manipulated.