Probosutedjo gets four-year sentence
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It is true what they say, "Money can't buy everything". As in the case of Probosutedjo, a businessman and half-brother of former president Soeharto, billions of rupiah "spent" to bribe prosecutors and judges could not get him exonerated.
The Supreme Court upheld Probosutedjo's graft conviction by lower courts, giving him four years in jail for misusing Rp 100.9 billion (US$10.9 million) of reforestation funds between 1994 and 1997.
Probosutedjo was also ordered to pay a Rp 30 million fine and return to the state all the money embezzled, Suparno, the Supreme Court director of law and judiciary, said on Tuesday.
One of the prosecutors in the graft case, I Ketut Murtika, said Probosutedjo was expected to voluntarily appear at the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to allow the prison sentence to be executed.
He said five prosecutors would wait for the businessman until midnight.
"If he (Probosutedjo) is not cooperative, the prosecutors will take him to prison on Wednesday morning," Murtika told Antara.
He said a cell at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta had been prepared for Probosutedjo. Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra once served part of his sentence for murder at Cipinang, before he was moved to Nusakambangan prison in Central Java in August 2002.
The house of the businessman on Jl. Diponegoro in Menteng, Central Jakarta looked quiet on Tuesday evening, Antara reported.
A housekeeper said his boss had not come home since leaving for his office at 10 a.m., while his wife and children left in two cars. Several cars were seen coming in and out of the house on Tuesday evening.
Suparno said the verdict was handed down on Monday by the newly appointed panel of five judges -- Iskandar Kamil, Atja Senjaya, Regina Purba, Djoko Sarwoko and Harifin A. Tumpak.
The Central Jakarta District Court had sentenced Probosutedjo to four years' imprisonment in 2003 for the same case. Later, his jail term was reduced to two years by the Jakarta High Court.
With his case still under appeal at the Supreme Court, Probosutedjo confessed to local media that he had spent Rp 16 billion to bribe court officials and prosecutors during his legal battles against the conviction.
He also said his lawyer, Harini Wiyoso, asked specifically for US$500,000 to bribe Chief Justice Bagir Manan who chaired the previous panel of judges dealing with the Probosutedjo case.
His confession prompted the Corruption Eradication Commission and the Judicial Commission to launch probes into the bribery cases.
The high-profile bribery allegations have cast a large spotlight on the "court mafia" in the country, which has generally been denied by all parties involved.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Mashudi Ridwan said his office was waiting for a copy of the verdict before executing Probosutedjo's sentence.
"I hope, by tomorrow, we will already have the copy, which will later be sent to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office for execution," he told The Jakarta Post.
Probosutedjo's lawyer Arrizal Boer said his client was preparing to file a case review against the final verdict.
"We have prepared new evidence to be submitted when we file a case review," he was quoted by Antara as saying.