PROSECUTION DEMANDS EIGHT YEARS FOR FORMER BI CHIEF

Jakarta, Oct. 8 (ANTARA) - The prosecution in the court trials of former Bank Indonesia (BI or central bank) governor Burhanuddin Abdullah in the illegal BI funds transfer case have demanded a jail sentence of eight years for him.

Presenting its demand at a court session here Wednesday, the prosecution also demanded that Abudllah be ordered to pay a fine of Rp500 million or remain in prison for six more months.

The former BI chief was considered guilty of corruption as defined in at least two anti-corruption laws.

In the case, Rp100 billion in BI funds were illegally spent to help a number of former top BI executives escape prosecution for their role in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) scandal and to maintain a lobby on House of Representatives (DPR) deliberations on amendments to the BI law in 2003.

Abudllah had all along protested his innocence by arguing the proposals to disburse the funds were approved at a meeting of the BI board of governors. He had only implemented a decision made collectively by the central bank's management.