Court acquits PT Pos director in graft case

Fri, 04/24/2009 12:53 PM  |  National

JAKARTA: The Central Jakarta District Court has acquitted state-owned company PT Pos Indonesia Director Hana Suryana of any involvement in an alleged corruption scandal.

During a court session Thursday, presiding judge Sugeng Riyono said the defendant had not violated the Corruption law because he had cost the state any losses.

"The defendant's decision to issue a circular on commission fees does not contradict terms in the 2003 law on state-owned enterprises," Sugeng said.

Hana was accused of having misused the company's operational and non-budgetary funds when a circular he issued on June 20, 2003, stipulated that customers sending large packages would be charged a fee of between 3 and 5 percent of the total package value.

Another judge, Reno Listowo, said the defendant' acts did not cost the state any losses because the fees were taken from company, not state, coffers.

"The defendant also did not make any personal gain through his actions, but rather benefitted a number of post offices instead. What he did was preserve customer loyalty to the company and lure a new market."

Previously, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) named Hany and six branch managers across Jakarta as suspects in connection with the alleged misuse of the company's operational and non-budgetary funds, which were believed to have caused around Rp 15 billion in state losses. -JP

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