Palace pen thief to serve 10 months in jail: Court

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday sentenced Mulyadi bin Umar Jaya, a cleaner at Merdeka Palace, to 10 months in jail for stealing 11 of President B.J. Habibie's pens.

The sentence was four months shorter than the 14-month jail term demanded by the prosecutors.

Presiding Judge Purwanto told the hearing that the defendant had taken another person's belongings without his approval.

"The defendant has stolen the pens, which belong to the state.

"By stealing the pens on four different occasions, he had deliberately committed the crime," he said.

However, he praised the defendant for admitting his crimes and for being polite throughout the trial, a factor that persuaded the judge to reduce the 14-month jail sentence.

"The defendant has openly admitted and regretted his wrongdoing. Also, he is still young," the judge said.

The 29-year-old defendant admitted in previous court sessions that he had stolen 11 Montblanc pens -- together worth Rp 33 million (US$4,715) -- from the room of the head of the presidential household on Jl. Veteran, Central Jakarta, on four different occasions in December last year and April this year.

The pens were supposed to be souvenirs from the President to newly appointed Indonesian ambassadors. The defendant earned Rp 2.8 million from selling nine of the pens.

Besides stealing the pens, Mulyadi also stole a Bank BNI savings book belonging to Nur Hidayati, deputy head of presidential household affairs. He succeeded in withdrawing Rp 2.4 million from Bank BNI's Harmoni branch office on April 3. He used the money to cover the debt for his wedding party several months ago and also to cover his family's expenses.

Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, Mulyadi told journalists before the trial on Tuesday that he was forced to steal the pens and the savings book because his salary could not cover his family's daily expenses.

"I was paid only Rp 82,500 per month, while I have to pay Rp 120,000 for my house's monthly rental fee, excluding daily expenses," he said, adding that he washed the cars of presidential palace officials for additional money.

He said in the beginning he attempted "to collect", but not to steal the pens.

"Many presidential palace officials did the same thing, namely bring home shirts and wall clocks from the palace," he said, adding he thought it would be OK for him to bring home some pens.

"But, after I learned that the pens were expensive, I tried to steal more pens." (asa)