To 60-year-old Syahril Sabirin, the word `independence' was like a tonic that kept him going at the detention center of the Attorney General's Office for more than five months. This happened in 2000, when he underwent an investigation into Bank Bali cessie case.

"If I'd accepted Gus Dur's offer to resign, what would become of Bank Indonesia's independence?" he told a TEMPO reporter. Public debate at that time centered on accusations and misperc