Press rapped over Bapindo, again
Press rapped over Bapindo, again
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Indonesian press received yet
more government wrath yesterday for their reporting on the
investigation into the loan scandal at Bank Pembangunan Indonesia
(Bapindo).
Attorney General Singgih warned that some newspapers and
magazines have violated the law by disclosing classified
documents that were used for his office's investigation.
Singgih was particularly offended at the way they reprinted in
full the texts of written statements given to the government
investigators.
"They are all classified documents," he said.
"I don't know how the journalists obtained these documents.
They were obviously leaked, but their actions already amount to
trial by the press," he told reporters before a cabinet meeting
at the Bina Graha presidential office.
He said sanctions are possible for the people who leaked the
documents as well as for those who helped disseminate them.
Singgih declined to point his finger at anyone but stressed
that the papers were not likely to have come from his own staff
since they face severe punishment for such actions.
Besides government investigators the only other parties privy
to the investigations are the suspects and their lawyers.
The press has been rapped on many occasions over the Bapindo
issue, by no less than President Soeharto himself, since the case
came to light in January.
The Bapindo scandal has remained front-page news for the past
three months not only because of the massive amount of money lost
(Rp 1.3 trillion) but also because it has political implications,
with a number of top government officials involved.
The trial of Eddy Tansil, the businessman at the center of the
scandal, is to open in the Central Jakarta District Court on
Tuesday.
The second defendant to appear before the court is Maman
Suparman, formerly deputy manager of Bapindo Jakarta, who will be
arraigned at the South Jakarta District Court on May 16.
Both men are expected to be charged under the 1971 anti-
corruption law, which carries a maximum punishment of life in
prison.
The Attorney General's office has also detained four former
Bapindo directors and is still interrogating them.
Given the importance of the cases, the chiefs of the two
courts have announced that they will personally try the cases.
Soedjatman, the chief of the South Jakarta District Court,
told reporters yesterday that 30 people would be summoned by the
court to testify in the trials against Maman.
The list does not include top government officials Sudomo and
Sumarlin, he told reporters.
He did not rule out however the possibility of adding more
witnesses, including Sudomo, to testify depending on how the
trial unfolds.
Soedjatman said he expected Maman's trial to be completed in
less than three months.
Singgih meanwhile said that his office was now investigating
four middle management executives of Bapindo following
allegations that they received bribery from Tansil to help him
disburse loans from the bank and bypass standard procedures.
He said that at present the evidence was not strong enough to
warrant their arrest but the investigation was continuing.
He also defended his office's decision not to grant the
request by one of the suspects be put under house arrest saying
that for practical reasons, they should all remain under the
custody of the Attorney General's office.
The lawyers of Sjahrizal, a former Bapindo director who is now
under detention, has said that top banker Robby Djohan was
willing to provide a guarantee for Sjahrizal's release.
Both Tansil and Maman, who are technically now under the
courts' custody, have remained at the detention house of the
Attorney General's office also to help with the investigation.
Relatives intending to visit them however have to seek the
court's permission. (02)