4.5 years in jail sought for court clerks in bribery case
4.5 years in jail sought for court clerks in bribery case
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prosecutors demanded on Friday that two court clerks be sentenced
to four-and-half years in prison each if found guilty of taking
bribes from a lawyer for convicted Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh.
The clerks at the Jakarta High Court -- Ramadhan Rizal and
Mochammad Soleh -- also should be fined Rp 50 million each or
serve an additional three months in jail, prosecutor Khaidir
Ramly told the Anticorruption Court in Central Jakarta.
He also requested that the court order the confiscation of Rp
249.9 million (US$24,990) in bribe money, which the defendants
allegedly received from Puteh's lawyer Teuku Saefuddin Popon, and
place it in the state coffers.
"The first and second defendants have been found guilty of
committing an act of criminal bribery, thus violating
anticorruption laws," Khaidir was quoted as saying by Antara.
He said the fact that the defendants -- who are a part of the
justice system -- committed the crime in spite of the
government's efforts to intensify the graft fight, made it all
the more incriminating.
They also refused to confess to their wrongdoings despite
clear evidence, and what they had done had further tarnished the
image of the country's justice system, Khaidir argued.
He added that the defendants had families to support and that
was the only mitigating factor.
Ramadhan and Soleh were charged with receiving the bribe,
allegedly from Popon, in connection with the appeal case of Puteh
against his corruption conviction, which was handled by the
Jakarta High Court.
Puteh was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the
Anticorruption Court in a markup case over the purchase of a
Russian-made helicopter for the Aceh administration. The appeal
courts later upheld the governor's conviction.
Despite being implicated in the case, Puteh, who is serving
his sentence at Jakarta's Salemba prison, has not been charged
with any wrongdoing in the bribery case.
Khaidir said witnesses who testified at the previous hearings
confirmed that Popon acted on his own, but on behalf of Puteh,
when the bribe took place.
In his indictment, Khaidir said Popon delivered the money at
around 4 p.m. on June 15, 2005 to Soleh at the office of
Ramadhan, his superior.
"Based on the statement by the second defendant (Soleh) to the
court, when Popon was about to give him the money, the second
defendant (Ramadhan) made a hand signal ordering him to hand over
the money to him," another prosecutor Z. Todung Alu said.
Shortly after that Soleh went out to say his prayers, then
officials of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrived
and caught Ramadhan and Popon in the act. A day later, Soleh
voluntarily surrendered to the KPK.
In response, the lawyer for the two defendants, Firman Wijaya,
dismissed the indictment as "illogical" as the prosecutors failed
to charge the people who actually provided the money for and paid
the bribe.
"Not only those who paid and received the bribe should have
been prosecuted and punished, but also others who planned it and
supplied the money," he asserted.
The panel of judges presided over by Gusrizal adjourned the
trial until Oct. 27 to hear the defendants' rebuttal.