Lampung's Golkar secretary gets 4 years

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post/Bandarlampung

Lampung's Golkar Party secretary Oktaviano was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison and fined Rp 200 million (US$22,222) in a graft scam involving the provincial education office.

The Tanjungkarang District Court found Oktaviano guilty of embezzling Rp 6 billion allocated for the procurement of textbooks in Lampung province.

"The defendant has been legally and convincingly proven to have committed corruption, causing losses to the state," presiding judge S. Gani said.

He said the evidence presented at the trial showed that Oktaviano enriched himself by receiving transfers from Kurnia, alias Bobby, a broker for the project who has since fled.

Prosecutors said Bobby transferred Rp 1.4 billion to a bank account owned by Oktaviano, known to be an associate of Lampung Education Office head Sutoto, to make way for the disbursement of funds for companies that won tenders for the project.

The project to procure textbooks for state junior high schools and Islamic junior high schools in Lampung was worth Rp 14 billion, Rp 8 billion of which was provided from the 2002 state budget and the remaining Rp 6.3 billion from the 2002 provincial budget.

An audit by the Lampung Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) found state losses from the project were caused by the appointment of Bobby as a third party broker.

Bobby received Rp 6.3 billion for the project, Rp 1.4 billion of which was transferred to Oktaviano while the rest went into his own pocket.

During his trial, Oktaviano was held at Rajabasa prison but was frequently seen outside the jail. He campaigned for Golkar ahead of the April 5 legislative election and attended numerous party meetings.

This seemingly favorable treatment afforded Oktaviano by the prison authorities led to protests by corruption watchdogs.

The same district court acquitted Lampung Education Office head Sutoto of all charges in the same case last March.

Anti-Corruption Committee (Koak) director Maya Ferlianti said the acquittal of Sutoto and the disappearance of Bobby showed that local law enforcers were not serious about fighting graft in the province.

"After Sutoto was acquitted by the Tanjungkarang District Court, Bobby fled and there has been no serious attempt by the police or prosecutors to capture him," Maya said.

Koak alleges that corruption was rampant at the Lampung Education Office during the administration of former governor Oemarsono.

The education office is alleged to have paid at least 2.5 percent of the value of all projects to thugs as a security fee.

Data from Koak indicates about Rp 108 billion in projects went through the provincial education office in 2002, with few of the projects being awarded through tenders.

Meanwhile, some 500 students and non-governmental organization activists staged an anticorruption rally at the Lampung Prosecutor's Office on Thursday.

The members of the Anti-Corruption People's Movement demanded prosecutors investigate massive graft cases in Lampung.

Protesters said the cases that had to be dealt with included a graft scam involving the purchase of a speedboat for Rp 4 billion that allegedly involved Tulangbawang Regent Abdurrachman Sarbini.

Another case is an alleged Rp 1 billion markup in the renovation of the Central Lampung regent's office, said protest leader Murdoko.

He also questioned the lack of progress in the investigations of a Rp 9.5 billion corruption case in 2002 and a Rp 10 billion scandal in 2001, both of which allegedly involved local councillors.