Sjahril's detention period extended

Sjahril's detention period extended

JAKARTA (JP): Suspended Bank Indonesia governor Sjahril
Sabirin must stay in detention at the Attorney General's Office
for another 30 days, pending the completion of corruption
investigations into him, an official said on Monday.

Spokesman to the Attorney General's Office Yushar Yahya said
the Central Jakarta District Court issued an extension for
Sjahril's arrest on Friday as requested by prosecutors. The last
30-day detention period, which started on Aug. 20, was due to end
on Monday.

"This is the third extension since Sjahril was arrested on
June 21.

"The period will be effective from Sept. 19, 2000, until Oct.
18," he told journalists at his office.

He said the investigation into Sjahril's corruption case would
soon be completed.

The extension was signed by deputy chief of the Central
Jakarta District Court Manis Soejono.

Sjahril arrived in Jakarta on Monday. He had been granted
five-day's leave to visit his father, who was being treated at
the Islamic Yarsi hospital in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra,
accompanied by a prosecutor and an Attorney General's Office
security officer.

His father, 91-year-old Ahmad Sabirin, died on Saturday. The
Attorney General's Office consequently extended his leave for
another day.

Yushar said the leave had been guaranteed by Bank Indonesia
deputy governor Achjar Ilyas and the leader of Sjahril's team of
lawyers, Sulistyo.

Sjahril is alleged to have violated the central bank's
prudential principal following his policy to reimburse Rp 904
billion in interbank loans guaranteed by the government in
connection with the Bank Bali scandal.

Some Rp 546 billion of the money was then reportedly paid to
Golkar-linked factoring firm PT Era Giat Prima for helping Bank
Bali recoup the loans from several defaulted banks. There are
suspicions that a large portion of the money went to help
bankroll the then president Habibie's reelection campaign.

Earlier last month, a panel of judges at the South Jakarta
District Court cleared the main defendant in the case, EGP
director Djoko S. Tjandra, from all corruption charges. They said
the case was not a criminal one and there was no proof of state
losses. (bby)