Judges asked to focus on legal aspects

JAKARTA (JP): Timber tycoon Mohammad 'Bob' Hasan, the defendant in an alleged fraudulent forest aerial mapping project between 1989 and 1999, asked the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday to set aside all political considerations and focus on the legal aspects of his case.

"I understand that the panel of judges may have encountered difficulties in trying the case against me.

"So, I ask the panel of judges to set aside all political considerations and concentrate on the legal aspects," he said at the hearing, presided over by Judge Soebardi.

He said that the entire prosecution was targeted at sentencing him to a jail term.

"Since I was arrested last March, all my rights have been ignored while the presumption of innocence has been neglected," he said.

"But, I've always been cooperative with the law enforcers," he added, while citing that he had been detained for nine months.

Responding to the defendant's request, Judge Soebardi said the court considered his statement to be a personal plea.

"Detention is a logical consequence for anyone facing trial," Soebardi said.

"And the judges only consider the juridical aspects in court," he added.

One of Hasan's lawyers, Chaerunnisa Jafizham, told The Jakarta Post after the hearing that the request for the judges to focus on the juridical aspects of the case would not prejudice his client.

"A defendant is allowed to make a personal plea, besides the one prepared by his or her lawyers. What's wrong with it? It's not a problem," she said.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Arnold Angkouw said he was quite sure that he could prove the charges against the defendant.

"We have strong grounds for prosecuting the defendant," he told the Post while leaving the courtroom.

Angkouw said Hasan had violated the contract and that the procedures and the outcome of the mapping project were not in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the 1989 contract. These violations had caused an estimated $168 million in losses to the Indonesian Forest Concessionaires Association (APHI), which the defendant once chaired.

The prosecutor said that PT Mapindo Parama, which conducted the aerial mapping project, could only complete the project for 81 forest concessionaires over a period of eight years, while the requirements set by the Ministry of Forestry stipulated that the mapping should be completed within three years.

"That's why some 518 other forest concessionaires turned to outsides consultants to take the aerial photos, which were a prerequisite to extending their forest concessions," he said.

The trial was adjourned until next Thursday to hear the prosecutors' demands. (01)