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Jakarta Post

Prosecutors demand court deny fugitive Djoko Tjandra’s case review plea

Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, July 27, 2020

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Prosecutors demand court deny fugitive Djoko Tjandra’s case review plea Presiding judge Nazar Effriandi speaks at a hearing regarding a request for a case review submitted by graft convict Djoko Tjandra at the South Jakarta District Court on July 6. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

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rosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court have demanded that the panel of judges drop the case review plea filed by notorious fugitive Djoko Soegiharto Tjandra as they also ask for judges to deny the graft convict's request for a virtual hearing following his consecutive absence.

“We demand the panel of judges reject the case review petition filed by Djoko Sugiarto Tjandra and declare the request cannot be accepted,” a team of prosecutors said in the broadcast hearing at the court on Monday.

The panel of judges, presided over by judge Nazar Effriandi, held the hearing for the fourth time on Monday, which Djoko failed to attend again.

The fugitive of the high-profile Bank Bali corruption case, who reportedly is staying in Malaysia, had requested last week through his attorneys that the case review trial be held virtually, citing his health condition as the reason for his absence. He filed the case review petition against his conviction to the South Jakarta Court in early June after being wanted by authorities since his escape in 2009.

One of the prosecutors, Ridwan Ismawanta, also asked the judges to reject the online hearing request. He said, citing Supreme Court circular No. 1/2012 on case review procedure, that teleconference hearings could only be held at district courts, prosecutors’ offices and detention centers and were only applicable to prisoners, defendants and witnesses.

“The plaintiff’s request [for an online hearing] is disrespectful to the court and [what he did] is contempt of court,” he said.

Read also: House deputy speaker reported for not allowing supervisory hearing for Djoko Tjandra's case

He added that Djoko’s absence was unacceptable as his team of lawyers did not present evidence of his health condition.

Djoko’s lawyer Andi Putra Kusuma conveyed in last week’s hearing that his client had been ill and could not attend the hearings because he was undergoing medical treatment in Malaysia.

The panel of judges did not clearly state whether the case review hearing would be continued or stopped, after adjourning it for around 1.5 hours on Monday afternoon.

The team of prosecutors, Ridwan said, refused to sign the dossiers of the hearing, insisting that the defendant must be present for the case review trial.

He said the prosecutors' refusal had not dropped the case review petition yet as he suspected it could be forwarded to the Supreme Court.

“The petition must be denied without the presence of the defendant,” he said as reported by tempo.co.

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