BI chief wants his detention deferred

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 04/16/2008 12:31 PM | National

Incarcerated Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah is requesting the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspend his detention, saying he is still active in his current role as central bank chief.

A team of lawyers filed the request with the graft body Tuesday.

The House of Representatives approved Burhanuddin's replacement as central bank governor, chief economics minister Boediono, on April 10, one day before Burhanuddin's arrest on corruption charges.

Boediono is not ready to move into the post pending his installment by the Supreme Court based on a presidential decree that not yet been issued.

"Considering there will be a replacement soon, and that Burhanuddin is still the current BI governor, we demand the KPK suspend his detainment," said one of Burhanuddin's lawyers, Mohammad Assegaf.

The commission should put him under house or city arrest, he told the press at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta, where Burhanuddin is being detained.

Assegaf said the KPK could hold Burhanuddin's family, his lawyers and the BI board of directors responsible should the outgoing central bank chief be uncooperative.

"His family, the law firms representing him and the BI board of governors have all given written consent to guarantee he will be cooperative," he said.

The KPK has never granted a request to suspend the detention of a suspect, but Assegaf said he was confident it would accept his client's request.

"He has important work to do ... his arrest may affect the country's monetary situation," Assegaf said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said Tuesday it was possible for the body to suspend Burhanuddin's detention.

"But it all depends on investigators handling his case whether they approve the proposal," he said.

BI senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom is currently the acting chief of the central bank.

On Jan. 8, the KPK declared Burhanuddin a suspect in the misappropriation of Rp 100 billion (US$10.87 million) from the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation.

Two other suspects -- BI legal affairs director Oey Hoey Tiong and former BI communication bureau chief (currently head of the central bank in Surabaya) Rusli Simanjuntak -- have been detained since Feb. 14.

Burhanuddin is the second BI governor to be detained while on active duty.

Former central bank governor Syahril Sabirin was detained on June 22, 2000, by the Attorney General's Office on corruption charges.

On March 13, 2002, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Syahril to three years in prison. A higher court later overturned the decision and six months later Syahril was back at work at the central bank. (anw/ewd)

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