CENTURY CASE MUST BE TAKEN TO COURT: OBSERVER

Jakarta, March 5 (ANTARA) - Banking observer Farial Anwar said the Bank Century bailout case should be brought to the court to prove that the funds had been used to assist the ailing bank.

"The case must be taken to court to prove that the policy has been correctly taken and whether the bailout funds amounting to Rp6.7 trillion are really needed for a bank of that size (small)," he said here on Friday.

He said that the case must be brought before the court so that the people would know the real problem regarding the bailout.

There should be no discrimination between the Century case and those in the previous ones where former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Burhanuddin Abdullah and Shahril Sabirin had to be put behind bars because they made wrong polices.

He said that the same thing should also apply for Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani where, if they were proven guilty by the court, they should also face legal sanctions.

Therefore, he said, law enforcers are expected to uphold the law based on the legal principle without being affected by back-door deals.

"If the case is not taken to the court it would lead to the emergence of many cases where state officials would make polices at will," he said.