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.