Minangkabau community visits Sjahril

Minangkabau community visits Sjahril

JAKARTA (JP): Under the banner of Minangkabau brotherhood,
several figures of West Sumatran origins offered bail for their
detained "kindred brother" Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril
Sabirin.

Describing themselves as members of a so called Minangkabau
cultural movement in Greater Jakarta, Gebu Minang, they visited
Sjahril at the Attorney General's Office on Wednesday to give him
moral support.

Among them were former minister of manpower Fahmi Idris who
said the brotherhood was also slated to meet with Attorney
General Marzuki Darusman on Friday to ask that Sjahril be
released on bail.

"One of our intentions in meeting Marzuki is to organize a
guarantee to all Minangkabau people residing in Greater Jakarta
for an exchange to a city arrest or a house arrest (for
Sjahril)," Fahmi told journalists.

The head of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Lawyers'
Association, John Pieter Nazar, who was also one of the visitors
on Wednesday claimed that more than 100 people have signed a
letter to strengthen the request.

Also seen were former National Police chief Lt. Gen (ret)
Awaloedin Djamin, former minister of health Farid Anfasa Moeloek
and former minister of public works Harun Zein.

Fahmi further claimed that people of various ethnicities, not
just from West Sumatra, were concerned about Sjahril's detention.

"As for myself, let's just say I am here to represent a sense
of justice which has been disturbed," he remarked.

Sjahril was detained for allegedly paving the way for an
illegal transfer of Rp 904 billion of Bank Bali's defaulted loans
to a private company linked to the then ruling Golkar party in
1999.

Part of the money is suspected to have been used to bankroll
then president B.J. Habibie's renomination bid.

Sjahril's first detention order of 20-days is to remain in
effect for another two-weeks.

Earlier in the day the group met the House of Representatives'
speaker Akbar Tandjung to obtain clarification on the legislative
body's stance on the matter.

Fahmi claimed that he had been told by Akbar that the
President had informed him during a meeting on Jl. Irian in May
that this process had been contrived in order to remove Sjahril.

"From Akbar's explanation, we can conclude that this matter
appears to have been designed by Gus Dur, who insists on forcing
Sjahril to resign from his post," Fahmi claimed. (bby)