Antigraft court sends two officials to jail

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Anticorruption Court sentenced two more government officials to prison amid an intensified campaign to curb corruption in the country.

The court gave Harun Letlet an eight-year jail sentence and Tarsisius Walla a seven-year jail sentence on Monday. The two were senior officials at the Directorate General for Marine Transportation at the Ministry of Communications.

In its ruling, the court said the two officials were guilty of corruption in the development of a port in Tual, Maluku, resulting in state losses of about Rp 10.8 billion (US$1.16 million).

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which brought the case to court, accused Harun and Tarsisius of marking up the cost of a plot of land measuring 14.5 hectares that the Ministry of Communications purchased to develop the port.

This is the second case ruled on by the Anticorruption Court amid a stepped-up campaign against graft by the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two weeks ago, the court sentenced suspended Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh to 10 years in jail for corruption.

In today's ruling, the court also ordered Harun and Tarsisius to pay fines and reimburse the state Rp 10.2 billion.

Two judges on the five-judge panel gave a dissenting opinion. Chief judge Mansyurdin Chaniago and judge Sutiono said there was no legal basis for the investigation carried out by the KPK because the commission was set up on Dec. 27, 2002, while the development of the Tual Port took place between 2001 and Dec. 19, 2002.

The sentences were lighter than the 11-year sentence for Harun and nine-year sentence for Tarsisius sought by prosecutors.

Harun and Tarsisius' lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.