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.