Judge orders Marzuki to present Sjahril in court
Judge orders Marzuki to present Sjahril in court
JAKARTA (JP): A judge at the South Jakarta District Court
ordered on Wednesday lawyers representing Attorney General
Marzuki Darusman to bring Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril
Sabirin, a suspect in the high-profile Bank Bali scam, into the
courtroom on Thursday.
According to Judge Ahmad Rusmandani, who presided over the
pretrial hearing of a lawsuit filed by Sjahril against Marzuki
over his arrest, the presence of the central bank governor, who
has been detained at a cell at the Attorney General's Office, was
badly needed for cross-examination.
"The plaintiff's version of the story needs to be cross-
checked with the versions of witnesses already brought into
court.
The court must grant the plaintiff his right to speak for
himself," the judge said.
"I order lawyers of the one who is being sued (Marzuki) to get
Sjahril out of detention and bring him into this courtroom by 11
a.m. on Thursday."
When the team of lawyers representing Marzuki, headed by Harry
Hartono, noted that the bureaucratic procedure required to get a
man out of detention at the office would take extra time, judge
Rusmandani gave the lawyers a one extra hour -- until 12 a.m. on
Thursday.
Harry added that his party had no witnesses, only evidence, to
present at the pretrial hearings, while Sjahril's lawyer,
Muhammad Assegaf, told the hearing that he would present four
witnesses, comprising lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, Bank Indonesia
deputy governor Soebardjo Djoyosumarto and Sjahril's two
secretaries.
Separately, another lawyer of Sjahril's, Sulistiyo, said that
a tape, apparently containing a conversation between Marzuki and
Sjahril, would be played at one of the upcoming hearings should
the panel of judges allow it.
"We have already prepared a copy of the transcript, and will
hand it over to the panel of judges soon. The tape clearly shows
the attorney general intimidating my client," Sulistiyo told The
Jakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday.
"The transcript shows the attorney general making a number of
statements that clearly intimidated my client."
In the lawsuit, lawyers for Sjahril accused Marzuki of
wrongfully detaining their client over his alleged role in the Rp
546 billion Bank Bali corruption scandal.
Assegaf told the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that
the detention of his client since June 21 was unwarranted.
"The entire time Pak Sjahril has been in detention, he has
only been questioned twice. Where is the reason to detain him?"
Assegaf asked the hearing.
Marzuki, who was not present at the hearing on Tuesday, has
said he followed all existing legal procedures and that Sjahril
was detained as a suspect to facilitate a fair and proper
investigation.
His lawyer, Harry, told the court that the attorney general
was empowered by law to detain any suspect for investigation.
Sjahril was declared a suspect in the Bank Bali scandal and has
been detained at the Attorney General's Office since his June
arrest. His period of detention has since been extended twice.
The Bank Bali scandal started when three private banks failed
to repay Rp 904 billion in debts to Bank Bali, which remained
outstanding until the three banks were closed down in late 1998.
Bank Bali then paid Rp 546 billion (US$78 million) to private
factoring firm PT Era Giat Prima to recoup the loans, which was
unnecessary as the debts were guaranteed by the government. (ylt)