Marzuki defends President's order on tycoons

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Thursday that there was nothing wrong with the President's request to delay the legal proceedings against three heavily- indebted tycoons.

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Marzuki said the delay was a consequence of the government's policy to reschedule their debts.

He said that under a debt rescheduling agreement with IBRA, the three businessmen had been given up to eight years to repay their debts to the state.

"Legal actions would only be taken if they fail to repay their debts at the end of that eight-year period," he said. "So there is no abolition of legal process whatsoever," Marzuki added.

The President last week disclosed that he had ordered for the delay of legal proceedings against Marimutu Sinivasan of Texmaco, Prajogo Pangestu of Barito Pacific and Syamsul Nursalim of Gadjah Tunggal because of their supposedly huge contribution to Indonesia's export drive.

The three owe billions of dollars to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), a unit of the finance ministry.

The disclosure prompted widespread criticisms, with accusations ranging from a presidential collusion with the businessmen to an unwarranted intervention of the judicial process by the President.

Separately, noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said Gus Dur had no legal right to order the delay of the prosecution, but he blamed Marzuki for allowing the confusion to rein.

"The Attorney General would be committing an error if he obeyed the President," Todung said.

"The Attorney General should be independent even though he is an assistant to the President. If he thinks that the President's order is against the law, he should reject it," Todung said.

"The Attorney General may lose his job for not obeying the President's order, but that is a different matter altogether," he said. (25/02/byg/sur)