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.