Treatment of Maman 'standard procedure'

Treatment of Maman 'standard procedure'

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman defended
yesterday the treatment of former Bapindo bank executive Maman
Suparman, before and after his death, as being standard
procedure.

Speaking to reporters after a plenary meeting of the House of
Representatives, which heard a draft on the establishment of a
high court in East Timor, Oetojo said that there was nothing
wrong in the officials' handling procedures.

"Maman was immediately brought to the Kramat Jati police
hospital in an ambulance after he was found groaning and vomiting
in his cell," Oetojo said.

In response to questions, Oetojo said that it is standard
procedure for all inmates to be brought to the police hospital
for security reasons, despite the fact that the Cipto
Mangunkusumo is located closer to Salemba prison.

Maman, 49, died of a heart attack in the Kramat Jati police
hospital in East Jakarta on Tuesday.

Maman, former deputy chairman of Bapindo's Jakarta branch, had
spent two years of a nine-year prison sentence for his role in
the loan scam, causing a Rp 1.3 trillion (US$ 620 million) loss
to the state. The court also fined him Rp 15 million.

Four other Bapindo executives, Syahrizal, Bambang Kuntjoro,
Subekti Ismaun and Towil Heryoto, were also found guilty.

They were on the board of directors when state-owned Bapindo
loaned nearly $500 million to businessman Eddy Tansil between
1989 and 1993 to finance his ambitious petrochemical project in
Cilegon, West Java.

The loan turned sour and Tansil was sentenced to 17 years in
prison for cashing in the loans with the help of insiders and
bypassing standard banking procedures.

Syahrizal and Subekti were sentenced to six years in jail,
while Towil and Bambang got eight and four years respectively.

The Supreme Court recently turned down Maman's and the four
others' appeals and upheld their sentences, but increased
Tansil's sentence to 20 years.

Oetojo denied the possibility that Maman had been murdered.

"None of the doctor's examination results indicate any
violence," he said.

He said that the result of the examination, which classified
the cause of death as "others", has yet to be verified.

"There are 14 types of diseases in the 'others column', such
as heart attack, cholera, diphtheria and hepatitis," he said.

Oetojo said that Maman's record of health during his
imprisonment was good, except that Maman was a habitual smoker
and had asthma.

The minister said there was a possibility that Maman became
short of breath on his way to the police hospital.

"When the hospital's doctor examined him at 6:35 a.m., Maman
was not breathing anymore," he said, adding that Maman reached
the hospital five minutes earlier.

He also said that Maman's wife had waived the right to have an
autopsy performed, displaying a copy of Mrs. Komariah's
statement.

Maman's lawyer, Denny Kailimang, earlier questioned the
officials' procedures on the day of Maman's death.

Denny also said that the Supreme Court had failed to hand
Maman its decision on his appeal. The Supreme Court upheld the
provincial court's decision to sentence Maman to nine years.

Sudjatman, head of the South Jakarta District Court where
Maman was tried, told reporters yesterday that his subordinates
had failed to see Maman to give him the Supreme Court's decision.

"We could not give the decision to other people. Maman should
have signed it personally," Sudjatman said. He said that the Rp
15 million fine imposed on Maman was automatically dropped after
the defendant's death. (imn/29)