Sjahril's verdict on March 6

JAKARTA: The Central Jakarta District Court is scheduled to present its verdict on Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin on March 6.

Presiding judge Soebardi said on Monday that the trial could not he held sooner because one of the judges intended to perform the haj pilgrimage.

Sjahril is being tried for allegedly abusing his authority in the illegal disbursement of Rp 904 billion (US$86.9 million) in Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) funds to Bank Bali in 1999.

Curiously, Rp 546 billion (US$58.8 million) of the money was paid to factoring firm PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) as a "commission" for helping Bank Bali to obtain the money.

PT EGP was owned by people close to the Golkar party and it was alleged that the money was used to campaign for the reelection of president BJ Habibie, who later lost his seat.

Prosecutor Yan Mere had earlier demanded a four-year prison sentence for Sjahril and asked the court to fine him Rp 30 million.

In 2000 Djoko S. Tjandra of EGP and former IBRA deputy chairman Pande Nasorahona Lubis were acquitted of all charges relating to the Bank Bali scandal.--JP