Imprisonment sought for politicians

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