Sapuan's hearing delayed by two weeks
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers for former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) deputy chief, Sapuan, requested a hearing of their client's corruption case on Tuesday be adjourned due to the absence of presiding judge Lalu Mariyun and asked the South Jakarta District Court to postpone the hearing until Jan. 23.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but at 11:30 a.m., judge Lalu who is also chief of the district court, had yet to arrive as he was attending a Halal bi Halal (post-Idul Fitri) gathering at the Supreme Court in Central Jakarta.
Judge Rosmandani Achmad, a member of the panel of judges that is trying the case, took the initiative to open the hearing at 11:30 a.m. and requested the prosecutors, the lawyers, the defendant and reporters to wait patiently for Lalu Mariyun who informed he would be present at the hearing at 1:30 p.m.
But, chief lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said it was too late to begin.
"We want the questioning of the defendant to be completed in one session," he told reporters at the courtroom.
Prosecutor Nulis Sembiring said he agreed with the two-week delay.
"I can understand the delay because of the busy schedules of the judges and the lawyers," he told The Jakarta Post while leaving the courtroom.
Sapuan, the man at the center of the Rp 35 billion (US$3.6 million) Bulog scandal, is being charged under Article 374 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
Sapuan has denied the charges, saying that he acted upon President Abdurrahman Wahid's order to find funds for the government's humanitarian program in Aceh. The money subsequently went to Suwondo, Abdurrahman's masseur, who will be prosecuted in a separate trial, and to a number of other people associated with the President.
The scandal has prompted the House of Representatives to form a special committee (Pansus) to investigate the possibility that members of the President's inner circle were involved.
A member of the President's inner circle being heard at the House on Tuesday was Semarang-based businesswoman Siti Farikha.
Forgiveness
A few minutes prior the opening of the hearing, Sapuan who has always been reluctant to meet journalists, surprisingly, revealed that he had forgiven President Abdurrahman for all his mistakes.
"To forgive is the most difficult thing for Indonesians to do, but I forgive Gus Dur," he said, adding that forgiving others was a lesson his late grandmother had taught him.
"Not only Gus Dur, but I also forgive all of you," he said to the journalists surrounding him, but did not elaborate.
Sapuan said he expected his trial would be finished early this year and explained that the scandal that has dragged him to court was no problem.
"During the fasting month of Ramadhan, I prepared my personal pleas, besides the lawyers' pleas, against the prosecutors' charges," he said.
Sapuan said he would likely publish his personal pleas in a book following a suggestion by a fellow prisoner.
Sapuan said if the South Jakarta District Court acquitted him of all charges, he would teach economy at a Jakarta-based private university.
"It will be impossible for me to return to Bulog because I'm retired already," the 57-year-old Sapuan said.
"However, if the court punishes me with a jail sentence, I'll fight through a higher court. (01)