KPU chairman gets 7 years

KPU chairman gets 7 years

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin
was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in jail for corruption
in a high profile case that could eventually implicate other
prominent figures, including some close to the administration.

The verdict against Nazaruddin, a former leading political
scientist at the prestigious University of Indonesia, came after
he successfully led the poll body through the country's first
ever direct presidential election last year, which saw President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's rise to power on antigraft promises.

Antigraft court judges presided over by Kresna Menon found
Nazaruddin guilty of receiving part of a total of Rp 5.3 billion
(US$530,000) in kickbacks from insurance company PT Bumi Putra
Muda, which won a Rp 14.9 billion contract from the KPU to
provide insurance during the holding of the landmark poll.

"The court finds that the defendant is guilty beyond all
reasonable doubt of corruption and hereby sentence him to seven
years' imprisonment," said Kresna.

The sentence was 1.5 years less than prosecutors had sought.

Nazaruddin was also fined Rp 300 million and ordered to return
the money received in kickbacks, or serve an extra six months in
prison. He has decided to appeal.

Nazaruddin is the fourth defendant to be jailed following a
series of trials involving KPU members and staffers on graft
charges. The KPU scandal has been seen as a test case of Susilo's
commitment to rooting out rampant corruption in the country.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah was sentenced to two-and a-half-
years' imprisonment for attempting to bribe a state auditor to
cover up corruption at the commission. Meanwhile, KPU deputy
secretary-general M. Dentjik and treasurer Hamdani Amin received
three years and four years respectively for receiving the
kickbacks from the insurance firm.

Another KPU member is still on trial.

Criminal Law expert J. Sahetapy and Teten Masduki, the
coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch, hailed the court's
verdict as progress in the government's campaign to eradicate
corruption, which has evolved into a major obstacle hampering
badly needed investment.

But the two urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
to also bring other serving and former KPU members, including
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and Anas
Urbaningrum, now a member of Susilo's Democratic Party, to
justice, especially in the light of testimony from Amin that all
10 KPU members and dozens of staffers have received kickbacks
from various private firms that won contracts from the
commission.

"It would be unfair if the other KPU members, including Hamid
Awaluddin, are not brought to justice because, according to
Amin's testimony, they also enjoyed the kickbacks," said Teten.

He also suggested that the KPK further investigate the other
graft allegations involving the KPU to further boost the
antigraft campaign.

The graft scandal in the KPU was revealed after Mulyana was
caught red-handed in April at a Jakarta hotel trying to bribe
Khairiansyah Salman, an auditor from the Supreme Audit Agency
(BPK), to overlook irregularities in the commission's finances.

Khairiansyah, who was wired at the time, played a crucial role
as a whistleblower in helping the KPK reveal the case.

For this, he was given the prestigious Integrity Award from
Berlin-based Transparency International in a move that it was
hoped would encourage other would-be whistleblowers to blow the
lid on graft cases. However, he was later named a suspect by the
Jakarta Prosecutors Office for receiving a bribe from the
Ministry of Religious Affairs to overlook irregularities in the
management of haj pilgrimage funds.