JAKNEWS.COM---The South Jakarta District Court has ordered the Attorney General's Office to reopen the investigation into the alleged misappropriation of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds involving Sjamsul Nursalim. Judge Haswandi, who heard the lawsuit alone, said Tuesday the AGO's decision to halt the investigation into the Rp 28.4 trillion (US$3 billion) case was a violation of the 1999 law on corruption eradication, which states that returning state assets does not erase the criminal act. 

"Therefore, the court orders the investigation into suspect Sjamsul Nursalim to be continued," Haswandi said, as quoted by Antara news agency. 

The People for Anti-Corruption Indonesia (MAKI) last month filed a pretrial motion against the AGO, claiming the law enforcement agency lacked a valid legal basis for halting the investigation into Sjamsul. 

It is believed Sjamsul is currently residing in Singapore after fleeing the country. 

The civil society group filed the lawsuit after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan for allegedly accepting a US$660,000 bribe from Artalita Suryani, a businesswoman with links to Sjamsul. 

Urip led the probe into Sjamsul's involvement in the BLBI case. 

Artalita and Urip are currently in detention. 

MAKI chairman Buyamin Saiman demanded Attorney General Hendarman Supandji follow the court order and immediately resume investigation into the graft case rather than appealing the verdict. 

"He (Hendarman) once told me that if we won the pretrial, he would reopen the case. I think he will be the loser if he seeks an appeal," Buyamin told The Jakarta Post after the hearing. 

Hendarman said later he would look into the ruling before taking any decision. 

"We will think about it as we are legally allowed to lodge an appeal," he said. 

On Feb. 29, 2008, the AGO dropped the BLBI cases involving Sjamsul and another tycoon Anthony Salim, citing a lack of evidence. 

The KPK arrested Urip two days later. 

Sjamsul, owner of Gajah Tunggal Group and the now-defunct Bank BDNI, was said to have repaid his Rp 28.4 trillion debt. 

But he was required to face a graft investigation by the AGO after the value of assets he handed over to the state was found to be only Rp 4.9 trillion. 

Golkar lawmaker Harry Azhar Azis said the court ruling gave the AGO no reason to delay reopening the BLBI cases. He demanded the KPK take over the cases if the AGO continued to try to buy time. 

"The AGO has lost credibility in the BLBI fund investigations. It's strange too that the KPK is reluctant to take over the cases. That's why Golkar will push for the graft body to handle the cases," he told the Post. 

Buyamin said the court ruling had encouraged his group to file further pretrial motions against the law enforcement agencies' decision to halt other BLBI cases, which have resulted in about Rp 600 trillion in losses to the state. 

AGO also dropped its investigation into Salim Group, which owed the state Rp 52.7 trillion in BLBI funds. 

Salim, former owner of BCA, the country's largest private bank, had paid its BLBI debts by handing over 92.8 percent of its BCA shares plus other assets and companies to the government. 

Their value dropped to only about Rp 19.3 trillion when the government sold them.
 

njpost/JAK09