Indonesian member expelled from IOC for corruption
Indonesian member expelled from IOC for corruption
Stephen Wilson, Associated Press/Athens
Indonesian member Mohamad "Bob" Hasan was expelled from the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday in connection with corruption charges dating back 10 years.
Hasan, a business partner of former Indonesian strongman Soeharto, was sentenced to a six-year prison term in 2000 for his role in a multimillion-dollar scam involving a forest mapping project in the early '90s.
Hasan, an IOC member since 1994, was suspended from his membership in May 2001. Previous moves to expel him were postponed pending reviews of his conviction. He is free on parole.
Hasan was ejected by a vote of the full IOC general assembly. With expulsion requiring a two-thirds majority of 69 votes, the result was 101 in favor and three against, with six abstentions and three unmarked ballots, the IOC said.
Hasan was allowed to present his defense to the session in writing.
A discussion on the Hasan case was held in private. Only IOC members were allowed in the assembly hall, and the video feed to journalists was turned off.
Hasan is the first member kicked off the IOC since 10 members resigned or were expelled in 1998 and 1999 following the Salt Lake City bid scandal.
Hasan's ouster came three days after Bulgarian member Ivan Slavkov was suspended by the IOC executive board for alleged misconduct involving the 2012 bid city process. Slavkov was secretly filmed by an undercover BBC television crew discussing how votes of IOC members can be bought.
Earlier, IOC president Jacques Rogge told the delegates they must stand up for ethical values.
"The IOC will always have a zero tolerance for doping and a zero tolerance for corruption," he said. "We owe it to the athletes and we owe it to ourselves."
However, Rogge said the unethical behavior of some members should not reflect on the whole IOC.
"No organization is perfect but I wish to say clearly to my colleagues that I trust them and that the IOC can be trusted, and we cannot accept unfounded accusations."