Aceh court to hear another collective corruption case
Syofiardi Bachyul JB, Padang
Investigators handed over on Tuesday to the Banda Aceh Prosecutor's Office the case files of seven suspects allegedly involved in a Rp 5.7 billion (US$600,000) scam at the local council.
Besides the dossiers, the investigators from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Prosecutor's Office also submitted material evidence consisting of five cars and Rp 125 million ($13,158) in cash.
The suspects are seven of the 26 Banda Aceh councillors who were allegedly involved in a corruption case involving the procurement of automobiles by the municipal council two years ago.
Two other councillors had rejected the scam, while the remaining two had passed away, Antara reported on Tuesday.
Nilawati, a Banda Aceh prosecutor, said the office had set up a team of four councillors to examine and present the dossiers to the Banda Aceh District Court.
The case follows several other similar cases involving regional councils, including the West Sumatra Council, the Payakumbuh Council in West Sumatra, the Cirebon and Garut Councils in West Java and the latest involving the Bandarlampung Council in Lampung.
Separately, the West Sumatra Prosecutor's Office awarded the West Sumatra Care Forum (FPSB) on Tuesday for its efforts in the investigation and prosecution of another recent high-profile graft case involving councillors.
"The award is a token of appreciation for the forum's assistance in combating corruption in the province," said the office's head, Muchtar Arifin, during the award ceremony.
It was not the first award to be conferred to an NGO for their anticorruption efforts: At the end of May, the Masyarakat Profesional Madani bestowed its Anticorruption Fighter Award 2004 to justice Bustami Nusyirwan for his courage in sentencing West Sumatra councillors for graft.
The FPSB was established three years ago by lecturers, students and activists from several NGOs, such as the Padang Legal Aid Institute and the local chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi.
Shortly after its establishment, the forum strongly opposed the exorbitant budget allotted to West Sumatra councillors, but the protest fell on deaf ears.
The forum, over the course of an independent investigation, discovered that the councillors had committed graft collectively, misusing the council budget for personal gain, and reported the irregularities to the West Sumatra Prosecutor's Office. They also offered to testify before the court.
The case was taken to be heard by the Padang District Court, which sentenced 43 of the 55 West Sumatra councillors to a maximum 27 months in prison for embezzling Rp 6.4 billion ($711,111) of the council's 2002 budget.
The verdict was the first to be handed down for a collective graft scam involving legislative members.
However, the convicted councillors remain free pending a decision on their appeal.