Tangerang court agrees to alleged corruptor's plea

TANGERANG: The Tangerang District Court agreed Wednesday to place a defendant in a Rp 5.8 billion corruption case under house arrest, despite the fact that he has been running from the law for two years.

Presiding judge Soeprapto said he granted the request filed by defendant Agus Burhanuddin, a former high-ranking official with the Tangerang municipal administration, based on guarantees from the defendant, his wife and his lawyer.

"Should he escape, we will try his wife at this court (for breach of contract) instead," he said.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Anwaruddin said that the court should order Agus to remain in jail because of fears the defendant would flee again.

"As a prosecutor, I can not interfere with the court's decision. But of course, I am disappointed," he told The Jakarta Post.

Agus, a former first assistant of the municipal administration, was finally arrested on September 2002 for allegedly misusing Rp 5.8 billion he collected from 28 housing developers between 1998 and 2000.

As the case emerged early in 2000, the defendant escaped.

Tangerang mayor M. Thamrin was scheduled to testify before the court on Wednesday, but he failed to appear because he had left on a haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.--JP