Court: Ex-envoy trial must go on

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 02/28/2008 11:29 AM  |  National

The Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday threw out a plea from former Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia Rusdihardjo and ruled his graft trial would continue.

"The court finds the prosecution's accusations valid and declares the trial will go on," presiding Judge Moerdiono said.

Rusdihardjo, a former National Police chief, is charged with manipulating immigration fees during his time at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

He allegedly received between 30,000 ringgit (US$9,000) and 40,000 ringgit per month by charging higher fees for immigration services between 2004 and 2006. If true, the defendant could have embezzled up to Rp 2.2 billion (US$241,758) in total.

Rusdihardjo faced his first trial session on Feb. 6. Prosecutors demanded the court sentence him to 20 years in prison.

They say Rusdihardjo issued two ambassadorial decrees on immigration fees at the embassy, one stipulating higher fees and the other lower.

The prosecution alleges that Rusdihardjo and another suspect in the case, Arihken Tarigan, the embassy's former immigration section chief, used these two decrees to manipulate income statements sent to the state, claiming less revenue than actually generated and embezzling the difference.

On Wednesday, Rusdihardjo's lawyers denied the charges, saying their client did not issue the decree increasing the immigration fees. That decree, they said, was issued by Rusdihardjo's predecessor, Jacob Dasto, in 1999.

They also said the timeframe for the alleged crime of January 2004 to October 2005, as cited by the prosecutors, was not specific enough. They demanded specific times or dates be cited.

Judge Moerdiono, however, said the specified timeframe was acceptable.

"Such general timeframes are allowed for in the Criminal Code," he said.

The court delayed a ruling on a request that Rusdihardjo be released on his own recognizance pending completion of the trial.

"We cannot rule on this right now because we need to discuss it first internally," Moerdiono said.

One of Rusdihardjo's lawyers, Junimart Girsang, said they wanted their client released because he was having health problems.

He said the defendant was not a flight risk and would not re-offend, impede the case or tamper with evidence. (dia)

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