Prosecutors ask court to reject defense, continue hearing

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 02/10/2009 5:35 PM  |  National

Prosecutors have demanded judges reject the defense of four men standing
trial for their involvement in the Bank Indonesia (BI) scandal in pretrial
hearings on Tuesday.

Defendants and former BI senior deputy governors Aulia Pohan, Aslim
Tadjuddin, Bunbunan EJ Hutapea and Maman H. Soemantri heard prosecutors'
response to their defense at the hearing. 
Prosecutor Ketut Sumidala said Aulia's defense - that the bank’s conduct was
in line with bank regulation - needed to be proved in court. 

"We have rejected the defendant's statement that the conduct complied
with banking regulations and cannot be punished," he said, adding that, “their
statements are part of the case which needs to be proven in court.”

He said that Aslim Tadjuddin's defense statements were inconsistent with the
reported amount of state loss. 

"We demand the court decline the defense and continue the hearing over
the case," he said. 

The court will hear the judges' response to the arguments on Tuesday, when
he will decide if the case goes to trial. 

Prosecutors have accused the defendants of violating the 2001 corruption law
for their alleged role in the disbursement of Rp 100 billion (US$8.5 million)
from the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation (YPPI). 

Rp 68.5 billion was used to resolve legal disputes facing some former BI
deputy governors during the resolution of the Indonesian Banking Liquidity
Assistance (BLBI) case, while the remaining Rp 31.5 billion was used to bribe
several lawmakers to help BI and BLBI get laws passed in their favor. (ewd) 

 

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