Akbar Tandjung's trial

Akbar Tandjung's trial

From Kompas

The recent trial of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung was obviously a farce. The punishment demanded by the prosecutor, as the public had earlier predicted, was very lenient. Was the sentence disappointing? The public no longer has such a feeling.

In fact, the substance of the case indicates that what Akbar Tandjung and his cronies committed was outrageous. In the lay public's view, corruption is perceived as something like this: A project worth Rp 1 million is marked up to become Rp 2 million, and the amount in excess is divided between the persons in the mark-up while the project goes on.

In the case of Akbar Tandjung and his associates, the project was worth Rp 40 billion and they created no project of a smaller value as a camouflage. They just embezzled the sum that was actually meant for the purchase of basic necessities for distribution to poor people in several regions. As the fund was misappropriated, it means that they violated the rights of other people. The money has now been returned so that the state incurs no loss.

However, didn't the prosecution consider the harm caused to the ordinary people, because the money should have been used to meet their urgent needs? Or was the loss suffered by these people just discounted?

TAN BENG HOK Sukabumi, West Java