Council speaker jailed for three years over fake diploma

Council speaker jailed for three years over fake diploma

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Tanjung Pinang

Tanjung Pinang's municipal council speaker, Bobby Jayanto, was
given three years sentence by the Tanjung Pinang district court
in Riau Islands on Monday, after being proven guilty of using a
fake senior high school diploma when running for his position.

Presiding judge Tjaroko said that Bobby, who is serving his
2004-2009 term in the Tanjung Pinang municipal council, had been
proven guilty as charged for faking his senior high school
equivalency diploma supposedly issued by Jakarta province's
Education Office, in order that he could meet the requirements to
become a legislative candidate.

Bobby, also known by the name Jaw Bu Hui, was charged for
violating article 263 of the Criminal Code which carries a
maximum penalty of three years in jail.

"Bobby Jayanto has disadvantaged Tanjung Pinang city because
he does not deserve to be elected a council member. But (by
faking his diploma) he has enjoyed facilities and salaries raised
from Tanjung Pinang people's money," Tjaroko said when he handed
down the verdict.

Bobby, of the Pancasila Patriots' Party, has been in the
custody of Tanjung Pinang police since Jan. 26, 2005 following a
report from Tanjung Pinang's mosque communication forum, which
suspected he was using fake diploma to qualify as a candidate in
last year's election.

Tanjung Pinang police had also received letter from Jakarta's
Education Office confirming that Bobby was not listed as
a participant in any of its senior high school equivalency
examinations.

The sentence was less than that demanded by prosecutor Kasmin,
who asked for a five year jail term.

Responding to the verdict, the prosecutor said on Monday he
would think about appealing the decision or not.

However, Bobby immediately said he would appeal the decision.
The council speaker cursed the judges, considering them to be not
objective.

"From the start I saw that the court proceedings, including
the judges, were not objective. I'll appeal," said Bobby, trying
to suppress his anger.

During the trial, the court, which is located in the Pamedan
area, was heavily guarded by police, as Bobby's supporters as
well as members of the mosque communication forum followed court
proceedings. However, no clashes were reported.

The case was not the first of its kind.

In August last year, the Election Supervisory Committee
released data disclosing that there were at least 405 councillors
implicated in false diploma cases across the country.

The announcement was issued only after a large number of the
over-12,000 newly elected councillors nationwide had already been
installed in their new positions.

Some of the cases have reached court. For instance, in October
last year, Mundir Alif, a Central Java councillor from the
Democratic Party, was sentenced to four months in jail with a
probation period of eight months for using a fake diploma.

In Lampung last year, councillor Dwi Sutarno of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle was sentenced to 10 months in jail
with a probation period of 20 months for forging a school
diploma.