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.