Bogor deputy mayor on trial, again
Bogor deputy mayor on trial, again
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Bogor District Court heard for the second time on Thursday a
corruption case against former council speaker Mochamad Sahid,
who is now Bogor deputy mayor.
Prosecutors had brought the man to trial late last year over
allegations that he swindled Rp 6.9 billion (US$726,000) of city
funds when he was still council speaker in 2002.
However, the court acquitted him and released him from
Paledang Prison on Jan. 24 because prosecutors apparently used
invalid charges based on Government Regulation No. 110/2000
concerning supporting fees for councillors, which had been
annulled by the government last year.
Reading the revised indictment on Thursday, prosecutor Nasran
Azis accused Sahid of violating Government Regulation No.
105/2000 on regional financial management, which carries a
maximum punishment of life sentence as stipulated in the
Anticorruption Law.
"We found new evidence that the defendant reported fictitious
expenses for medical check-ups totaling Rp 178 million that he
withdrew on April 1, 2002, and Oct. 1 that year. Three deputy
speakers and 41 other councillors received Rp 2 million each from
that money, instead of being paid to Karya Bhakti Hospital where
the medical check-ups were being conducted," he told the
courtroom, presided over by judge Andriani Nurdin.
Moreover, the prosecution stressed, witness Mismadi Mihadi,
the hospital's director, gave a statement saying that the
hospital had never performed medical check-ups on the
councillors.
Nasran said that the councillors also took Rp 225 million from
the council budget as an Idul Fitri "bonus" in 2002, which was in
violation of a Ministry of Home Affairs decree issued on Dec. 5,
2001, stating that such holiday bonuses should not be taken from
the regional budget.
After the trial, Sahid protested vehemently.
"As councillors, we deserve high payment ... It's irrational.
It's not as if we are meatball vendors," screamed the former beef
soup vendor.