REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Law and Human Right Minister Amir Syamsuddin said the government has recovered part of assets of scandal hit Bank Century worth Rp48 billion in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong High Court has decided in favor of the Indonesian government that requested the confiscation of the assets related to the Bank Century case found in the Hong Kong jurisdiction, Amir said in a statement on Tuesday.

The law and human rights minister earlier submitted a request to the his Hong Kong counterpart for mutual legal assistance related to Bank Century criminal case.

The Hong Kong high court decided the return to Indonesian of only US$4.076 million (Rp48 billion) worth of assets , mostly in shares confiscated from Rafat Ali Rizvi and Hesham Al-Warraq both former owners of Bank Century, convicted in Indonesia.

"The Hong Kong high court did not fully accepted the Indonesian request . We believe, however, that assets could be confiscated not only those directly related to the convicts but also those under control of the convicts through various corporate bodies," Amir said.

The move constitutes an early step toward recovery of the assets related to Bank Century case abroad , he said.

Currently the government has succeeded in freezing Bank Century assets abroad such as in Jersey worth around US$16.5 million dollar, he added.

The asset recovery from Hong Kong should serve as an example by other countries in returning such assets, he said.

He said the law and human rights ministry would continue the hunt for more assets of Bank Century abroad including through appeal to higher courts.

The lawyers of the two convicts, Rafat Ali Rizvi and Hesham Al-Warraq , also appealed the verdict , but based on observation , the governments of Indonesian and Hong Kong are optimistic the appeal court would favor the decision of the Hong Kong High Court.

The MLA request of Indonesia was processed based on a decision of a Jakarta district court in 2010 authorizing the Indonesian government to confiscate the assets owned or controlled by Rafat Ali Rizvi, Hesham Al-Warraq, Robert Tantular and other convicts in Hong Kong.

The decision of the Indonesian court could not be executed directly , Amir said, adding, the only way is through MLA agreement with other countries concerned.

Rafat Ali Rizvi and Hesham Al-Warraq were punished by the Indonesian court in abstention in 2010.

The main arguments presented by the lawyers of the two convicts were that legal process in Indonesia violated the rights of the convicts saying the two committed no crime but their case were only management failure.

They said the decisions against Rafat Ali Rizvi and Hesham Al-Warraqy were politically motivated.

The Indonesian government, however, had succeeded in convincing the Hong Kong court that the decision of the Indonesian court had strong legal basis in line with international law as well as Hong Kong law.

The assets of Bank Century have been known to be kept in 14 countries .

Until now the Indonesian police have succeeded in recovering only Rp295 billion mostly assets saved from PT Antaboga of the total assets of Rp11 trillion.

In 2010, the Indonesian Supreme Court sentenced Robert Tantular to nine tears imprisonment with a fine of Rp100 billion or an additional jail term of 8 months.

The government is seeking extradition of both Hesham Al Waraq and Rafat Ali Rizvi and recovery of assets worth US$156 million in Swiss Dresdner Bank and Rp1.1 trillion in Hong Kong .

The case of Bank Century had implicated a number of Indonesian leaders including Vice President Boediono, who was former Governor of Bank Indonesia, over bail out of the ailing bank by the government and the central bank.

Boediono is considered responsible for the US$700 million bail out declared illegal by the House of Representatives.

Two former deputy governors by the central bank were named suspects by the Corruption Eradication Commission .

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