Councillor face five years in jail
The Jakarta Post, Surakarta
Two former leaders of Surakarta City Council were sentenced to five years' imprisonment on Monday by the Surakarta District Court following their convictions on graft charges.
The two, former council speaker Bambang Mudiarto and deputy speaker M. Yusuf Hidayat who served the 1999-2004 term, were also fined Rp 200 million (US$20,000) each and ordered to return the money they had misappropriated to the tune of Rp 266 million and Rp 89 million respectively, or face another six months' imprisonment.
The sentences were heavier than had been sought by the prosecution, which had recommended four years in jail for each of them and the return of the money they had misappropriated.
On Monday, eight councillors serving the same term were also charged with two years and six months' imprisonment each for their convictions on the same charge.
Each of them also has to pay a Rp 50 million fine and will be sentenced to an additional two months in jail each if they cannot return the funds they misappropriated of between Rp 62 million and Rp 128 million each.
The eight councillors' prison sentences were lighter than demanded by prosecutors, who had recommended four years in jail for each of them.
The councillors are Darsono, Eriadi Dodi Prasetyo, Purwono, Bandung Joko Suryono, Sali Basuki, Muhammad Iqbal Ipmawan, Mujahid and Rio Suseno.
Presiding judge Suroso said the prosecutors' legal basis had not been strong enough because they had only based their charges on the financial losses suffered by the state without proving that the 10 were guilty of embezzlement.
The prosecutors charged the 10 with violating article 3 and 18 of Anticorruption laws No. 31/1999 and No. 20/2001 and article 55 and article 64 of the Criminal Code.
However, the judge also found the councillors' guilty of enriching themselves through raising the budget, which was declared a criminal act.
Responding to the verdicts, both Bambang Mudiarto and other councillors immediately said they would appeal the decision, saying that their move to change the budget was legal.
"What we've done was according to procedure, so we'll fight for our legal rights," Bambang said.
Former councilor Darsono felt optimistic he would escape punishment if the appeal court brought in the key witness, the Surakarta mayor, who approved the budget change.
"The key witness has never been asked by the court or the prosecutors to come to court," Darsono said.
The graft case emerged after a coalition of community groups reported the case to the police. They said that the councillors and their leaders were involved in a graft case worth Rp 4.2 billion.
Following the report, the Surakarta Police named all councillors and their leaders suspects. So far, only 10 of them have been prosecuted while the remainder are awaiting prosecution.