Trial of former Bulog chief to continue

Trial of former Bulog chief to continue

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta District Court decided on
Thursday to proceed with the trial of former chief of the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu Amang, a defendant in a corruption
case which prosecutors allege inflicted Rp 95.4 billion (US$10
million) in losses on the state.

The court rejected objections lodged by defense counsel who
argued that the prosecutors' indictment was premature and vague
and that the case should be considered a civil case as it
involved a land swap deal with PT Goro Batara Sakti.

"The bench acknowledges that the land exchange transaction
between Bulog and PT Goro Batara Sakti may be considered to be a
civil issue, but it's not impossible that during the course of
the transaction criminal acts were committed," presiding judge
Lalu Mariyun said.

Last year Beddu, who was then a member of the People's
Consultative Assembly and so immune from prosecution, was
indicted on the same charges, but the court threw them out as the
prosecutors had failed to obtain presidential consent for the
prosecution.

According to Fachmi, the defendant together with two
executives of wholesaler PT Goro Batara Sakti, Hutomo 'Tommy'
Mandala Putra and Ricardo Galael, as well as businessman
Hokiarto, had illegally enriched themselves at the expense of the
state through the 1995 land exchange deal.

In October 1999, the same court exonerated Tommy, the youngest
son of former president Soeharto, and Ricardo of all corruption
charges. But they were later respectively sentenced by the
Supreme Court to 18 months in prison. Tommy, who disappeared a
few days after President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected his appeal
for clemency, is still at large. Hokiarto is to face a separate
trial.

Mariyun adjourned the hearing for a week. (01)