Court acquits Cirebon mayor in poll bias case

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

The Cirebon District Court in West Java acquitted Cirebon Mayor Subardi on Monday of charges of bias in connection with his campaigning for former president Megawati ahead of the Sept. 20 election runoff.

The panel of judges led by Silalahi argued that the charges laid by prosecutors Herdinan and Eman Sulaeman against the defendant were not proven in his trial.

The prosecutors sought two months' imprisonment and a Rp 1 million (US$111) fine for the mayor, who chairs the Cirebon branch of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

They charged Subardi with illegally campaigning for Megawati and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi on Sept. 16 in Cirebon.

The case was reported to Cirebon Police by the city's Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) which obtained a video compact disc that showed the mayor addressing a rally organized by the PDI-P.

Panwaslu and the prosecutors accused the mayor of violating Article 40 of Law 23/2003 on presidential elections.

But the judges said Subardi was not guilty of violating the law.

The mayor, who arrived at the court at around 11:30 a.m. accompanied by his supporters from the PDI-P, laughed upon hearing the verdict. His supporters also hailed the mayor's acquittal.

Subardi later left the court after shaking hands with the judges and the prosecutors.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor lashed out at the court for acquitting the mayor. "The judges should have considered various psychological aspects resulting from the campaign carried out by a state official," Eman Sulaeman said.

He said the judges should have sentenced Subardi to at least one month in jail if they considered that the charges lacked evidence.

"Unfortunately, the court verdict on an election violation case is final, so we cannot appeal," Eman said.