Blitar regent gets 15 years for graft
Blitar regent gets 15 years for graft
Antara, Blitar
In a bold move, the Blitar District Court in East Java has handed
down a 15-year jail sentence to suspended Blitar regent Imam
Muhadi on Monday, finding him guilty of embezzling Rp 97 billion
(US$9.7 million) from the regental budget.
The sentence, delivered by presiding judge Nyoman Dedy T., was
among the heaviest penalties ever given to a top local government
official involved in graft.
Suspended Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh was given a 10-year
jail sentence by the Supreme Court in September, and in late
October, suspended Temangung regent Totok Ary Prabowo was given a
four-year jail sentence by Temanggung District Court in Central
Java for embezzling election funds of Rp 12.6 billion last year.
The Blitar District Court's sentence on Monday, however, was
lighter than the 18 years earlier demanded by prosecutors.
Responding to the verdict, Imam Muhadi immediately declare
that he would appeal the decision.
Tempers flared when during a press briefing one of Imam's
supporters was almost involved in a fight with a prosecutor in
the courtroom.
Imam's sons, Topan and Guntur, could not accept the decision
either, openly shouting at a prosecutor, and only calming down
when Imam arrived. Imam was then escorted from the court under
tight police guard.
The sentence was similar to previous sentences handed out to
the head of the regental administration's finance division,
Krisanto, but heavier than that given to three other officials
convicted in the same case.
The head of the administration's treasury division, Solichin
Inanta, was sentenced to 11 years; head of information, tourism
and publications division, Rusjdan, received 10 years; and head
of the accounting office, Bangun Harsono, got five years.
Such sentences will not be the last as the country steps up
the fight against corruption. Soon, more regents and deputy
regents will follow as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
has recently endorsed requests by police and prosecutors to
question 10 top state and local government officials for their
alleged roles in separate cases of corruption.
Presidential spokesman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng said the 10
officials in question included the regent of Kapuas Hulu in West
Kalimantan and the regent of Lamandau in East Kalimantan and his
deputy.
Also facing questioning were the regent of Pandeglang in
Banten and his deputy, the regent of Karawang in West Java, the
deputy regent of Nganjuk in East Java, the mayor of Banjarmasin
in South Kalimantan and the deputy mayor of Salatiga in Central
Java.