JP/5/huzrin

JP/5/huzrin

Regent gets
two years in
graft case

Fadli
The Jakarta Post
Tanjung Pinang, Riau

Riau Islands Regent Huzrin Hood has been jailed for two years for
corruption involving Rp 3.46 billion (US$407,058) from the
regency's budget in 2001.

The Tanjung Pinang District Court in Riau province also
ordered Huzrin on Thursday to pay a Rp 200 million fine and repay
the money he stole for personal gain.

If he fails to pay the fine and return the Rp 3.46 billion,
his jail term would be increased by 30 months, the panel of
judges said.

Prosecutors had sought a six-year jail term for Huzrin.

"I will appeal," Huzrin told the judges, presided over by S.
Joko Sungkowo who were accompanied by Yus E. Nidar, J. Purba,
Syahlan and Bambang Edi.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Firmansyah said he and his colleagues
were also considering an appeal.

He said the judges had failed to take into account several
factors, including that Huzrin arrived at court on the first day
of the trial carrying a pistol.

Huzrin had also given conflicting testimony at the trial and
was a "negative example" for the public, Firmansyah added.

Prosecutors seized a store-house building and five vehicles
belonging to the disgraced regent when the charges were first
laid.

The trial opened on June 23, with at least 17 witnesses
testifying for and against the defendant.

Thursday's session at the Kaca Puri Sports Hall was attended
by around 1,000 people and was tightly guarded by around 500
police officers, including those from the police paramilitary
Mobile Brigade from Batam island.

The graft case against Huzrin was first exposed by the Supreme
Audit Body (BPK) in 2001, which revealed irregularities of Rp
87.2 billion in the administration's budget.

But, the Riau Prosecutor's Office found that irregularities in
the budget, which were subject to corruption investigations,
amounted to only Rp 3.46 billion.

The vast disparity between the figures provided by the
auditing body and the Riau Prosecutor's Office was apparently a
result of their different auditing criteria.

Huzrin was detained at the Attorney General's Office last May
for failing to cooperate with investigators. He was later flown
to the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, where he was detained for five
days.

The regent was then sent to Tanjung Pinang, but was bailed
after paying Rp 175 million to guarantee that he would not evade
the law.

He allegedly embezzled the money to buy political support for
the establishment of a Riau Islands province.

The graft case became public after the House of
Representatives endorsed the law on the formation of Riau Islands
province last year.

However, the endorsement was strongly opposed by the mother
province of Riau and the resource-rich Natuna Islands.

Responding to the opposition, President Megawati Soekarnoputri
issued a decree earlier this year to delay the establishment of
the new province.

Many believe that the funds that were allegedly embezzled were
used to finance trips by hundreds of local people to Jakarta to
voice their support for the new province at the House when
legislators were deliberating the bill.