Home minister staff member jailed for misusing funds<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
The district court in Bandung, West Java, sentenced on Tuesday
\na former secretary of the West Java administration and currently
\nan expert staff member at the Ministry of Home Affairs to 1.5
\nyears in jail for his involvement in the misuse of Rp 16 billion.<\/p>\n
The court found administration secretary Ragam Santika guilty
\nof misusing his power to disburse Rp 16 billion from the
\nprovincial budget to Al-Ihsan foundation during his tenure
\nbetween 1994 and 1998.<\/p>\n
Ragam was also fined Rp 15 million.<\/p>\n
Previously, the court also sentenced the province's Deputy
\nGovernor Ukman Sutaryan to 2.5 years in jail for corruption which
\ncaused Rp 27.9 billion in losses to the state. Ukman is also the
\nchairman of the Al-Ihsan foundation.<\/p>\n
Ragam's sentence was more lenient than what had been demanded
\nby prosecutor Azizzul Hakim, who asked the court to sentence the
\ndefendant to eight years in prison and fine him Rp 30 million.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant as a government official who knows exactly the
\nprocedure of using the budget has apparently misused the fund for
\nthe benefit of certain people,\" said Hazli, the presiding judge.<\/p>\n
Ragam said that actually as a secretary he only obeyed what
\nhad been ordered by his superior, namely Deputy Governor Ukman
\nSutaryan. But the judge said that his action still violated
\nArticle 1 of Regulation No. 31, 1971 as he collaborated with
\nother people in the crime.<\/p>\n
The judge said that Ragam was also involved in misallocating
\nRp 1.065 billion from the budget for certification of Cipondoh
\nlake in Tangerang, which should not have been financed by the
\nWest Java administration.<\/p>\n
According to the judge, he doled out a more lenient sentence
\nto Ragam because he had served the country for more than 35 years
\nand had held many important positions, including Sukabumi regent
\nand now as an expert staff member of home minister Hari Sabarno.<\/p>\n
He also said that he behaved well during his trial and
\nadmitted his wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Ragam, however, will not be directly put into jail as he is
\nill and the judge is waiting for his medical report.<\/p>\n
Unlike Ukman's trial, Ragam's trial was not marked by protests
\nand was very quiet. Less than 100 visitors attended the trial.
\nRagam was only accompanied by one of his sons.<\/p>\n
Ragam said he would appeal the verdict to a higher court. \"The
\njudge was very ambiguous. He said that I took no money from the
\nfund for myself, and the state ended up suffering no losses as
\nall the money was returned. But still he sentenced me,\" he said.<\/p>\n
His lawyer, Rudy Gunawan, said that his client should be
\nacquitted from the all of the charges as they were implemented by
\nRagam upon Governor Nuriana's approval.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Ragam always reported to Governor Nuriana what he had
\ndone, but the governor said he had never been informed,\" said
\nRudy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/home-minister-staff-member-jailed-for-misusing-funds-1447893297",
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