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.