Polygamous councillor sentenced to jail

SURABAYA, East Java: An East Java deputy council speaker from the Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) faction was sentenced on Monday to four months in jail by a local military court on charges of fraud, carried out to enable him to take a second wife.

The Surabaya military court granted councillor Col. Masduki, 54, a six-month probationary period, during which time he will remain free, unless he commits another crime. Prosecutors demanded a six-month jail term.

Masduki was found guilty of fraud, falsifying his identity to marry 32-year-old Indah Sulistyowati in 1996. In his marriage document, he used a false name and claimed to be an entrepreneur whose wife had passed away.

Polygamy is not allowed for military personnel. Masduki was already married to Linda Yun Aripurawanti, with whom he has three children.

The illegal marriage went unnoticed for four years until March 2000, when Linda found out. Masduki chose to divorce Indah, leaving her with two children, aged one and two.

Masduki's lawyers said they would respond to the court's verdict within seven days. -- Antara