Huzrin gets reduced jail sentence

PEKANBARU, Riau: The Riau High Court upheld on Friday the verdict by a lower court that found Riau Islands regent Huzrin Hood guilty of corruption.

However, the panel of judges at the High Court reduced the lower court's sentence of two years and handed Huzrin a one-year jail term.

They also ordered that Huzrin be placed under city arrest, which means he will not be serving his sentence in prison and is merely confined to city limits.

During the court session, presiding judge Imam Soekarno said the lighter sentence was granted to Huzrin on the grounds that he had little understanding of what was categorized as corruption.

He also lacked knowledge of the bureaucratic system, a shortcoming that led him to "mismanage the budget" of the Riau Islands administration. "He is only a senior high school graduate," Imam said, as a way of explanation.

The High Court verdict was handed down following Huzrin's appeal that he was not guilty of corruption.

The court did not go into details as to whether it had stripped Huzrin of his position as Riau Islands Regent.

The case against Huzrin centered on a public expose held by the Supreme Audit Body (BPK) two years ago, which revealed irregularities totaling Rp 87.2 billion in the provincial budget.

The Riau Prosecutor's Office, however, found later that the irregularities, which were to be investigated as a possible corruption case, only amounted to Rp 3.46 billion. -- JP