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Indonesia brings graft fugitive Djoko Tjandra back from Malaysia
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The fugitive of the corruption case of Bank Bali Djoko Tjandra who was arrested in Malaysia was shown to the media during a press conference at the Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Office, Jakarta, on Thursday, July 30, 2020. Djoko Tjandra was arrested in Malaysia after being a fugitive for eleven years from 2009 to 2020 after being sentenced to two years in prison by the Supreme Court. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
T
he National Police has brought Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, a fugitive and graft convict who had been on the run for 11 years, back to Indonesia after arresting him in Malaysia on Thursday.
Guarded by personnel of the police's Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim), Djoko landed at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta on Thursday evening.
Bareskrim head Comr. Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the arrest had been made possible through cooperation between Indonesian police and their Malaysian counterparts.
“The National Police chief sent a letter to the Malaysian police to help with searching the fugitive and, Alhamdulillah [thank God], we managed to locate him [on Thursday] afternoon,” he said in a televised statement after arriving at the airport.
“This is also the answer to public doubts as to whether the police could catch [the fugitive], and today we have [delivered on] our commitment to arrest Djoko Tjandra,” Listyo said as he thanked the Malaysian police for cooperating with the arrest.
Following his arrival, Djoko was immediately taken to the Bareskrim headquarters for further questioning.
Djoko was first arrested in September 1999 for his involvement in the high-profile Bank Bali corruption case. He was acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court in 2000.
After the AGO filed a request for review, the Supreme Court sentenced Djoko to two years of imprisonment in 2009 and ordered him to pay Rp 546 billion (US$54 million) in restitution. However, Djoko fled to Papua New Guinea a day before the court ruling and had remained at large ever since.
Djoko recently made headlines as he managed to return to the country undetected and request a case review over his conviction with the South Jakarta District Court in early June. He reportedly filed his plea after obtaining a new electronic ID card and passport, in addition to having his Interpol red notice status lifted.
The court, however, dropped his case review plea on Tuesday after Djoko, who was reported to be residing in Malaysia, failed to show up for the hearing four times. Djoko’s legal team said that the fugitive was not able to attend trial due to his poor health.
