Huzrin gets reduced jail sentence

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