Court sends Adiwarsita to jail
Court sends Adiwarsita to jail
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Jakarta District Court convicted on Wednesday the
chairman of the Indonesian Forestry Association (APHI) Adiwarsita
Adinegoro to six years in jail for abusing the association's fund
for a forest conservation program.
The court also handed down a four-year jail term to three
other APHI officials involved in the case.
Adiwarsita, who is also a legislator from the Golkar Party, is
required to pay back Rp 21.7 billion (US$2.16 million) he took
from the state and another Rp 200 million in fines.
In addition, Adiwarsita and the three other APHI officials
must also pay a total of Rp 43.5 billion in restitution to the
state, Antara reported.
The panel of judges, led by judge Liliek Mulyadi ruled that
Adiwarsita had illegally lent some $18.4 million in APHI funds to
third parties, including legislators and the Raudlatul Jannah
foundation.
The foundation was appointed to organize a charity program for
the poor in 1999, which turned out to be fictitious. Then House
Speaker and Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung was convicted in
the case in 2003, but the Supreme Court later cleared him from
any wrongdoing.
The loans, made during Adiwarsita's term as APHI chairman
between 1998 and 2003, were not in line with APHI rules, and had
caused the state to suffer some Rp 95 billion and $5.6 million in
losses, the court ruled.
The funds, which were collected from APHI members including
the five state forestry agencies, were supposed to finance aerial
mapping for forest conservation.
Prosecutors earlier sought an eight-year jail term for
Adiwarsita. However, the judges lowered the sentence because of
the damage already done to his reputation as a public figure.
Other APHI officials convicted in the case include deputy
chairman Abdul Fattah, treasurer Yusran Syarief and his deputy
Zain Mashur.
The judges sentenced Abdul, Yusran and Zain to four years
imprisonment. The three were also required to pay fine worth Rp
4.5 billion, Rp 800 million, and Rp 16.3 billion, respectively.
The convicts' lawyer, LMM Samosir said that they would appeal
the verdict.