Judge tried on bribery charges

JAKARTA (JP): A high court judge appeared in the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday charged with accepting Rp 550 million in bribes.

Prosecutor Agus Sutoto said in the indictment that Fauzoluto Zendrato, a judge at the Jakarta High Court, accepted bribes in 1999 from PT Surabaya Industry Estate Rungkut (PT SIER) in order to win two cases against them being handled by the Supreme Court. At that time Fauzoluto was head of the directorate of appeal of civil cases.

According to the prosecutor, Fauzoluto at first asked for Rp 200 million, saying that the money would be distributed to the Supreme Court justices who were handling the case.

PT SIER requested a smaller fee and both sides then agreed to the figure of Rp 150 million, the prosecutor said.

Not long after the money was transferred to the defendant's account on March 24, 1999, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of PT SIER.

As the bribe was successful, PT SIER again enlisted Fauzotulo's help to win another case in the Supreme Court. This time, Fauzotulo asked for Rp 400 million and the money was transferred to his account on July 29, 1999, the prosecutor said.

Fauzotulo is charged under the Criminal Code and Anticorruption Law No.31/1999, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.