House legislator in hot water for graft

SERANG, Banten: Prosecutors demanded on Friday that current House of Representatives member Dharmono Lawi be sentenced to eight years in prison for alleged corruption involving Rp 14 billion (US$1.7 million).

Dharmono, the former Banten legislative council speaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has been charged with misusing the housing funds allocated from the province's 2003 budget, while he was still the council speaker.

When reading out the indictment, prosecutor Salim Fizri also requested that Serang District Court imprison former Banten council deputy speaker Muslim Jamaludin from the Golkar Party for eight years, and current council deputy speaker Mufrodi Muchsin from the United Development Party (PPP), for the same charges.

Separately, the Banten prosecutor's office head Kemas Yahya Rahman said the panel of judges must also order each of the three defendants to pay Rp 300 million in fines.

Apart from that, Dharmono has been ordered to give back Rp 295 million, a small portion of what prosecutors say was embezzled from the budget, along with Muslim, who must give back Rp 305 million and Mufrodi Rp 223 million, Yahya added. -- Antara