Labor leader charged with graft

JAKARTA: Chairman of the Prosperous Indonesian Labor Union (SBSI) Muchtar Pakpahan began his trial at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, a few months before his Social Democratic Labor Party (PBSD) contests the general election.

Prosecutors charged Muchtar with misusing Rp 1.2 billion (US$142,800) disbursed by the state-owned worker's insurance company PT Jamsostek to build a training center.

Prosecutor Ferbin Jhoni said Muchtar had received Rp 1.9 billion from Jamsostek for the training center's construction project, but some of the money allegedly ended up going to his own political party and SBSI's coffers.

Ferbin charged Muchtar with violating article 2 paragraph 1 of the Law No. 31/1999 on anticorruption, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

The trial was adjourned until next Monday to hear the defense argument from Muchtar and his lawyers. -- JP