Court rejects appeals by graft convicts

Court rejects appeals by graft convicts

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Judges at the appellate division of the Anticorruption Court
threw out on Friday the appeals of two government officials who
were found guilty of embezzling Rp 10.8 billion (US$1.16 million)
in state funds.

Led by judge Zaharudin Utama, the court sentenced Harun Letlet
to nine years in prison while his colleague Tarsisius Walla was
given seven years. Both Harun and Tarsisius were formerly senior
officials at the Directorate General for Marine Transportation at
the Ministry of Communications.

The sentence was higher for Harun than the eight-year sentence
given at the Anticorruption Court at first instance, but
Tarsisius' sentence remained the same.

In its ruling, aside from corruption, the court said the
additional punishment was based on the Article 3 of Law No.
31/1999 on the abuse of power by government officials.

The two convicts are already in Cipinang penitentiary, East
Jakarta.

Their lawyer, Sugeng Teguh Santosa said they were not doing
too well in the prison.

"The last time I saw them, they were sick. They're not young
anymore, and they are stressed out, plus the situation in prison
is not very conducive to good health," Sugeng said as quoted by
Antara.

The court said that Harun and Tarsisius were guilty of
embezzling the funds allocated for the development of a sea port
in Tual, Maluku.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which brought the
case to court, accused Harun and Tarsisius of marking up the cost
of a 14.5 hectare plot of land that the ministry purchased to
develop the port.

The embezzlement caused state losses of Rp 10.8 billion.

The case is the second ruled on by the Anticorruption Court
amid an intensive campaign against graft by the administration of
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Early this week, the court sentenced suspended Aceh governor
Abdullah Puteh to 10 years in prison for embezzlement in the 2001
purchase of a Russian-made MI-2 helicopter for the province,
which inflicted losses of Rp 3.6 billion ($400,800).