Judge tried on bribery charges

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.