Fugitive village head sentenced to 5 years in prison for village fund corruption

The panel of judges at the Corruption Court in Banda Aceh has sentenced Sayuti, the village head of Gampong Kambuek Payapi Kunyet, Padang Tiji District, Pidie Regency, to five years in prison for corruption involving village funds for the 2023 fiscal year. The verdict was read by the panel of judges chaired by Jamaluddin at the Banda Aceh Corruption Court on Monday. The trial was held in absentia as Sayuti remains on the wanted list. In addition to the prison sentence, the panel of judges also imposed a fine of Rp200 million, with the provision that failure to pay would result in an additional four months of confinement. The panel also ordered the defendant to pay restitution for state losses amounting to Rp222.8 million. If not paid, the defendant’s assets may be seized and auctioned to cover the losses. In its ruling, the panel of judges stated that the defendant was legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing corruption as stipulated in Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption, as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001. The panel noted that the defendant managed village funds totalling Rp846 million in the 2023 fiscal year. However, several irregularities were discovered, including the use of village funds that did not comply with regulations and the disbursement of budgets for activities that were never carried out. ‘The defendant managed the village funds improperly. Moreover, there were activities that were not implemented, yet the funds were fully disbursed,’ said Chief Judge Jamaluddin while reading the verdict considerations.