Governor-elect faces 10 months in prison
Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung, Lampung
Prosecutors sought on Monday only a 10-month-jail term for the governor-elect of Lampung, M. Alzier Dianis Thabranie, who is charged with fraud and falsifying a document before his election last year.
Based on testimonies by 15 witnesses, he was found guilty in a fraud case involving 500 tons of fertilizer worth Rp 502.5 million (US$59117) from state-owned firm PT Pusri, and of using an illegal diploma, said prosecutor R. Onggan Siahaan.
Siahaan requested that the Tanjungkarang District Court fine Alzier Rp 4 million or serve six months in jail.
The governor-elect looked tense while the prosecution read out their recommended sentence, which started at 11 a.m. and took 3.5 hours.
The fraud took place in January 2001 when Alzier was serving as the president director of CV Wisata, which reportedly bought 500 tons of fertilizer from PT Pusri with blank checks.
Siahaan said that to convince PT Pusri to approve his purchasing order, Alzier used forged university degrees from a Jakarta institution.
Presiding judge S. Gani Parlaungan adjourned the hearing until Jan. 12, 2004, when the defense would be heard.
Commenting on the lenient sentence requested for Alzier, anticorruption activist Ahmad Yulden Erwin said it showed that the prosecutors were "insensitive" in dealing with graft cases.
"PT Pusri's losses were caused by Alzier. And it's clearly corruption. So why is he not being charged under the Anticorruption Law?" he said.
Legal expert Armen Yasir from the University of Lampung said the lenient sentence for Alzier showed that the trial was merely a sham.
If it had been serious, the prosecutors should have sought a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the elected governor, he said.
Alzier was elected the governor of Lampung on Dec. 30, 2002, defeating then-incumbent governor Oemarsono, who was backed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Earlier this month, the central government annulled Alzier's electoral victory after having delayed installing Alzier for months, claiming the election had breached existing procedures.
Police then laid graft charges against the governor-elect, and Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno recommended a revote to elect another governor while installing his aide as the acting governor for the province.
Most factions in the Lampung legislative council agreed with the call for a revote and council leaders vowed to file a judicial review to challenge Hari's annulment of Alzier's election.
Alzier is reportedly preparing a legal action against the central government over the annulment.