'Sjahril verdict reeks of irregularities'
'Sjahril verdict reeks of irregularities'
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The High Court verdict which acquitted Bank Indonesia Governor
Sjahril Sabirin of all corruption charges in the Bank Bali
scandal was diametrically opposed to the people's sense of
justice, according to top legislators and anti-corruption
activists.
"The verdict is shocking," said legislator Benny Pasaribu of
the House of Representatives Commission IX on financial and
development planning affairs.
He also demanded a probe into possible irregularities behind
the verdict.
A court official announced on Thursday that the High Court had
overturned the corruption conviction and three-year jail sentence
imposed on Sjahril in March by the Central Jakarta district
court, but they have not released the reasons or if any new
evidence had come to light.
On March 13, the district court found Sjahril guilty of
corruption connected with the 1999 Bank Bali scandal but he
remained free and continued his official duties pending the
appeal.
The high profile scandal centered on the illegal transfer of
part of some Rp 904 billion (US$90.4 million) in government
blanket guarantee funds from Bank Bali to a company linked to the
then ruling Golkar Party. There has been accusations that the
funds were used to help finance the Golkar Party campaign in the
1999 general election.
"We smell irregularities here," said Albert Hasibuan of
Gempita or the Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets.
He did not elaborate.
But the country's weak and corruption-prone legal system has
been in the spotlight recently following a number of
controversial verdicts. In June, for instance, the local unit of
Canada's insurer Manulife Financial Corp. was ruled bankrupt
despite being fully solvent. The ruling was later overturned by
the Supreme Court, and the judges handing down the bankruptcy
ruling are currently being investigated on corruption charges.
Corruption is endemic in Indonesia. The Berlin-based anti-
corruption group said in its 2002 Corruption Perception Index
that Indonesia again ranked as one of the most corrupt countries
in the world.
Another legislator Syamsul Balda urged Sjahril to step down
despite the verdict which legally absolved him from the
corruption charges, arguing that the central bank must be led by
a person of the highest integrity without any questions or
scandals linked to him or her.
"The Indonesian people wish to have exceptionally clean and
honest people leading Bank Indonesia," he said.
He said that Bank Indonesia was a very strategic institution,
which among its many duties, designed monetary policy for the
entire and supervised banks.
Meanwhile, the 59-year old Sjahril welcomed the High Court
decision.
"This is the result of patience for all of us at the central
bank. Hopefully we will be able to perform better duties in the
future and this will also create stability for our currency," he
told reporters.
The rupiah ended slightly higher versus the U.S. dollar in
thin trading Friday on suspected intervention by Bank Indonesia,
dealers said.
The rupiah closed at Rp 8,840, up from its close of Rp 8,875
on Thursday.
Bank Indonesia employees also congratulated Sjahril, who has
also received strong support from the central bank's board of
governors throughout the trial process.