Imprisonment sought for politicians

PADANG, West Sumatra: The West Sumatra Concerned Citizens Forum urged on Thursday the provincial prosecutor's office to take into custody 43 former councillors who have been convicted on corruption charges.

The forum's coordinator Ady Surya said the politicians should have started serving their jail terms after the Supreme Court upheld their jail sentences on Aug. 2.

Both the Padang District Court and West Sumatra High Court found the politicians guilty of embezzling Rp 5.9 billion (US$605,000) of state money, and sentenced them to between four years and five years in jail.

A Supreme Court verdict is legally binding, but in many cases it inexplicably takes the local prosecutor's office a very long time to execute it due to "bureaucratic matters." Many convicted white-collar criminals have exploited such delays to flee the country.

Both Padang Prosecutor's Office chief Antasari Azhar and a lawyer for the politicians, Nudirman Munir, said they had not received copies of the Supreme Court's verdict. Nudirman also said his clients would be seeking a review of the case. -- JP