Sjamsul escape rumor denied

Sjamsul escape rumor denied

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney general's spokesperson Moeljohardjo
denied on Friday rumors that business mogul Sjamsul Nursalim, a
suspect in a corruption case, had fled the country saying he was
being treated at a hospital here.

"It's absolutely untrue," he said, as quoted by Antara.

Moeljohardjo said Sjamsul was undergoing treatment at Room 427
of Medistra Hospital, South Jakarta due to a heart problem and
chest pains.

Sjamsul, owner of Gadjah Tunggal Group, was arrested by the
Attorney General's Office on Tuesday but was allowed to leave the
detention house that night due to illness.

A former director of the now defunct Bank Dagang Negara
Indonesia, Sjamsul is alleged to have misused Rp 10.9 trillion
(US$990.9 million) of state emergency loans extended to the bank
between 1997 and 1999.

Sjamsul is one of three tycoons whose legal proceedings were
initially delayed upon President Abdurrahman Wahid's request as
they were considered the largest contributors to the country's
economy.

The other two were Marimutu Sinivasan, owner of textile
company Texmaco and timber tycoon Prajogo Pangestu.

The Attorney General's Office has stressed that Sjamsul's time
in hospital would not be deducted from his 20-day detention
warrant.

The Attorney General's Office has also forbidden him from
travelling abroad for a year, starting Dec. 22.

Separately on Friday, another detainee, former minister of
mines and energy Ginandjar Kartasasmita, received a visit from
the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, cleric Hussein Al Habsyi.

Habsyi said his visit was a show of support for Ginandjar.

"I have come to see my people who are being cruelly treated by
Mr. Dur," he said referring to the President.

"I told him (Ginandjar) to pray and be patient in facing this
and not to worry because I am here for him," he told journalists.

Habsyi is known as a political opponent of Nahdlatul Ulama.

Despite not obtaining a visiting permit from prosecutors,
Habsyi accompanied Ginandjar for Friday prayers at the office's
Baitul Adli mosque and talked with him for ten minutes inside his
cell.

Ginandjar refused to talk to reporters.

Ginandjar is accused of abusing power in his former capacity
as minister of mines and energy, in several government contracts
which allegedly caused some $24.8 million in losses to the state.

He has been in detention since April 6 after receiving medical
treatment at state-run Pertamina Hospital for a week.(bby/hdn)