KPU chairman gets 7 years<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin
\nwas sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in jail for corruption
\nin a high profile case that could eventually implicate other
\nprominent figures, including some close to the administration.<\/p>\n
The verdict against Nazaruddin, a former leading political
\nscientist at the prestigious University of Indonesia, came after
\nhe successfully led the poll body through the country's first
\never direct presidential election last year, which saw President
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono's rise to power on antigraft promises.<\/p>\n
Antigraft court judges presided over by Kresna Menon found
\nNazaruddin guilty of receiving part of a total of Rp 5.3 billion
\n(US$530,000) in kickbacks from insurance company PT Bumi Putra
\nMuda, which won a Rp 14.9 billion contract from the KPU to
\nprovide insurance during the holding of the landmark poll.<\/p>\n
\"The court finds that the defendant is guilty beyond all
\nreasonable doubt of corruption and hereby sentence him to seven
\nyears' imprisonment,\" said Kresna.<\/p>\n
The sentence was 1.5 years less than prosecutors had sought.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin was also fined Rp 300 million and ordered to return
\nthe money received in kickbacks, or serve an extra six months in
\nprison. He has decided to appeal.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin is the fourth defendant to be jailed following a
\nseries of trials involving KPU members and staffers on graft
\ncharges. The KPU scandal has been seen as a test case of Susilo's
\ncommitment to rooting out rampant corruption in the country.<\/p>\n
KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah was sentenced to two-and a-half-
\nyears' imprisonment for attempting to bribe a state auditor to
\ncover up corruption at the commission. Meanwhile, KPU deputy
\nsecretary-general M. Dentjik and treasurer Hamdani Amin received
\nthree years and four years respectively for receiving the
\nkickbacks from the insurance firm.<\/p>\n
Another KPU member is still on trial.<\/p>\n
Criminal Law expert J. Sahetapy and Teten Masduki, the
\ncoordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch, hailed the court's
\nverdict as progress in the government's campaign to eradicate
\ncorruption, which has evolved into a major obstacle hampering
\nbadly needed investment.<\/p>\n
But the two urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
\nto also bring other serving and former KPU members, including
\nMinister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and Anas
\nUrbaningrum, now a member of Susilo's Democratic Party, to
\njustice, especially in the light of testimony from Amin that all
\n10 KPU members and dozens of staffers have received kickbacks
\nfrom various private firms that won contracts from the
\ncommission.<\/p>\n
\"It would be unfair if the other KPU members, including Hamid
\nAwaluddin, are not brought to justice because, according to
\nAmin's testimony, they also enjoyed the kickbacks,\" said Teten.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that the KPK further investigate the other
\ngraft allegations involving the KPU to further boost the
\nantigraft campaign.<\/p>\n
The graft scandal in the KPU was revealed after Mulyana was
\ncaught red-handed in April at a Jakarta hotel trying to bribe
\nKhairiansyah Salman, an auditor from the Supreme Audit Agency
\n(BPK), to overlook irregularities in the commission's finances.<\/p>\n
Khairiansyah, who was wired at the time, played a crucial role
\nas a whistleblower in helping the KPK reveal the case.<\/p>\n
For this, he was given the prestigious Integrity Award from
\nBerlin-based Transparency International in a move that it was
\nhoped would encourage other would-be whistleblowers to blow the
\nlid on graft cases. However, he was later named a suspect by the
\nJakarta Prosecutors Office for receiving a bribe from the
\nMinistry of Religious Affairs to overlook irregularities in the
\nmanagement of haj pilgrimage funds.<\/p>",
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