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Chief security minister orders immediate arrest of fugitive Djoko Tjandra
Djoko was found guilty of his involvement in the Bank Bali scandal, which saw hundreds of billions of rupiah embezzled from state bailout funds during the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD talks to reporters on the sidelines of an event held by law firm Dentons HPRP in Jakarta on Jan. 22. (JP/Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman)
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oordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD has instructed the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to immediately arrest Djoko Soegiharto Tjandra, a fugitive in the high-profile Bank Bali corruption case, who is believed to have returned to the country after years on the run.
"I have ordered the Attorney General [ST Burhanuddin] to quickly arrest fugitive Djoko Tjandra," Mahfud said on Thursday, "There's no reason for him to remain free even though he has requested a case review [for his conviction]."
Djoko, who had reportedly been in Indonesia for the past three months, filed a case review against his conviction with the South Jakarta District Court in early June. He was then scheduled to attend his case review submission hearing at the court on Monday, but did not show up.
ST Burhanuddin said previously that his office had not received any information about Djoko's arrival in the country, but he gave an assurance that the AGO was currently hunting him.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, however, gave a conflicting statement, saying there was no indication that Djoko had returned to Indonesia. A thorough examination of immigration data, he said, showed no record of his arrival in the country.
Djoko was found guilty of his involvement in the Bank Bali scandal, which saw hundreds of billions of rupiah embezzled from state bailout funds during the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
He was acquitted in 2000 but later sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay Rp 546 billion (US$54 million) in restitution in 2009 after the AGO filed a request for a review with the Supreme Court.
Djoko, however, fled Indonesia on a chartered flight from Jakarta to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on June 10, 2009, just a day before the country's highest court issued the ruling.
Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with PNG, which later confirmed that Djoko had obtained PNG citizenship in 2009.
