Sjahril, convicted in graft case, remains a free man

Sjahril, convicted in graft case, remains a free man

Muninggar Sri Saraswati
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin has been convicted and
sentenced to three years imprisonment for corruption. But he
remains a free man.

Sjahril can still enjoy his freedom like anybody else and does
not have to spend his time behind bars due to his appeal.

A day after his trial, Sjahril arrived late at his office and
was warmly welcomed by the central bank employees. Later on
Thursday, he officially opened a seminar for Bank Indonesia's
annual report, as scheduled earlier before the verdict was
announced.

The 59-year-old Sjahril also met several guests including the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) senior representative for
Indonesia, David C. Nellor, and World Bank economist, Vikram
Nehru.

"The meeting was not scheduled. Apparently, both officials met
Pak Sjahril to convey their sympathy on the verdict," said
central bank spokesman, Erwin Riyanto.

The fact that Sjahril is still free has raised many eyebrows.
However, Asep Irwan Iriawan, one of the three judges who tried
Sjahril's case, said if Sjahril had been in detention when the
verdict was delivered, the court could have ordered him to remain
in detention.

"But we could not send Sjahril directly to jail because he was
free when the court presented the verdict," he told The Jakarta
Post.

A court has the authority to arrest a defendant under certain
circumstances, according to Topo Susanto, a law lecturer from the
University of Indonesia.

"If the judges consider that a defendant would escape or
interfere with evidence, or if the judges believe the defendant
would commit the same crime again, they could arrest the
defendant," Topo told the Post.

But Asep said there was no reason for the judges to arrest
Sjahril because he was cooperative; he was never absent during
the trial; and especially because prosecutors had released him
from detention earlier.

Now that Sjahril has appealed to the Jakarta High Court, it
has the authority to order him to be detained.

But, lawyer Irianto Subiyakto from the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute said that the High Court had never ordered such a
detention while an appeal is pending.

Until such time as Sjahril's guilty verdict becomes permanent
and binding, the public should not expect to see him in prison.
He is legally allowed to run the central bank and give orders to
his subordinates, Irianto said.

It very well will be a long process until his legal fate is
decided. If the High Court rejects his appeal, Sjahril can still
appeal to the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court turns down his appeal but does not order
him to be jailed, Sjahril could file a judicial review with the
court.

If the judicial review is rejected, he could still ask for a
presidential pardon.

While all that is going on he will remain free to run the
central bank and draw his salary from the taxpayers under
Indonesian law.

The Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday declared
Sjahril guilty of involvement in the Bank Bali scandal, which
caused the state to suffer Rp 904 billion (US$90.4 million) in
losses. The court also ordered him to pay a fine of Rp 15 million
or spend another three months in jail.

The team of prosecutors, led by Y.W. Mere, charged Sjahril
with corruption as a result of the violation of prudential
banking principles.

Sjahril had violated the principles by signing an approval for
the payment of a Bank Bali claim for Rp 904 billion before the
Ministry of Finance ordered the central bank to disburse credits
to troubled banks controlled by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA).

Previously, Bank Indonesia had consistently rejected Bank
Bali's claim. But Sjahril signed the approval after receiving a
letter from IBRA, signed by its deputy chairman, which asked the
central bank to pay the claim.

Sjahril's approval went against the state's loan disbursement
procedures which stated that the request should be signed by the
chairman of IBRA, at that time Glen M. Yusuf.

In June 1999, Bank Bali finally managed to obtain its money
with the help of PT Era Giat Prima, owned by Golkar legislator
Setya Novanto.

Strangely, the firm accepted Rp 546 billion ($54.6 million) as
a "brokerage fee". The money was believed to have been used to
finance the reelection campaign of former president B.J. Habibie,
who eventually lost the presidency in October 1999.

The court found Sjahril guilty of violating Article 1 of Law
No. 31/1971 on corruption, which bans the enrichment of oneself
or others at the expense of the state.

Sjahril was first detained at the Attorney General's Office on
June 21, 2000 for investigation. On Sept. 19, prosecutors put him
under house arrest until Dec. 6, 2000.

Articles 24 and 25 of the Criminal Code state that a suspect
must be released in the name of justice after being detained for
110 days during the investigation.

When the period of detention was over, the Attorney General's
Office had still failed to finish investigating the case.

It was not until early in January 2001 that Sjahril's case
files were transferred to the court.

Then Attorney General Marzuki Darusman stated that prosecutors
could no longer detain Sjahril as the full period of detention
allowed under the law had expired.