Court throws out Bogor deputy mayor's graft case

Court throws out Bogor deputy mayor's graft case

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post/Bogor

The Bogor District Court threw out corruption charges against
Bogor deputy mayor M. Sahid on Monday and ordered the release of
the defendant from detention.

Sahid was accused of abuse of power during his term as the
Bogor council speaker. He is alleged to have obtained a total of
Rp 6.8 billion (US$764,044) from the administration budget in
2002, which was subsequently used to pay various unlawful
allowances and other benefits to the members of the Bogor city
council for the 1999-2004 term.

Presiding judge Syarifudin said that the prosecution could not
be brought under Government Regulation No. 110/2000 on local
government finance as this had recently been annulled by the
Constitutional Court.

The regulation stated that the maximum budget allocation for a
council must not exceed more than one percent of the relevant
administration's annual revenue.

The court's decision represents a setback to the effort to
secure prosecutions in a number of graft cases involving former
council members across the country, all of which are being
prosecuted based on the regulation.

The Bogor prosecutors had earlier argued that they were
compelled to bring the case even though the regulation had been
overturned as an offense had been committed.

Prosecutor Dedi F Rajagukguk said he would appeal against the
court's decision.

In tears, Sahid, clad in a brown shirt and brown trousers,
accepted the decision and shook hands with his lawyer, John
Pieter, while cheering erupted from among members of the public
attending the trial -- mostly members of the Bogor branch of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, of which Sahid is
chairman.

After the hearing, Sahid was brought to the Azra Hospital for
a checkup, and then returned home. He had been detained in
Paledang prison since Sept. 27.