Three years sought for Sussongko

Three years sought for Sussongko

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Prosecutors recommended on Monday that acting secretary-general
of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Sussongko Suhardjo be
imprisoned for three years and fined Rp 50 million (US$5000) for
bribery.

He is charged with involvement in an attempt to bribe an
official of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) with Rp 300 million,
in order to influence the results of its audit on KPU funds used
for last year's general elections.

"The defendant has been proven to have committed corruption,
violating Chapter 5 of Law No. 31/1999 and Law No. 20/2001 on
corruption," prosecutor Catharina M. Girsang told the trial at
the Anticorruption Court in Jakarta.

Muhibuddin and Riyono, two other prosecutors, said there were
several incriminating facts in the defendant's role in bribing
BPK auditor Khairiansyah Salman over alleged irregularities in
the KPU's ballot box project.

Muhibuddin said Sussongko knew and agreed to give Rp 300
million to Khairiansyah who audited the project.

Besides approving the bribe attempt, the defendant also
contributed Rp 150 million of a total of Rp 300 million handed
over to the auditor in the form of four cheques for Rp 25 million
each and Rp 50 million in cash, Muhibuddin added.

"The money were given to Khairiansyah on April 3 and April 8,"
he said.

Muhibuddin said Sussongko attended a meeting with
Khairiansyah, KPU member Mulyana Wira Kusumah, the main suspect
in the bribery case, and KPU staffer Mubari at Borobudur Hotel on
March 10, 2005.

Sussongko's lawyer Budiman Paningkas said the recommended
sentence was too high and that it was unfair since the
prosecutors sought three years for the main suspect, Mulyana.

Budiman said the recommended sentence for his client should be
lighter than that of Mulyana, arguing that there was no evidence
that Sussongko was involved in planning to bribe the BPK.

Under the Anticorruption Law, the defendant could face a
maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp
250 million.

In a separate court hearing on Monday, lawyers for Mulyana
urged the panel of judges to reject the bribery charges against
him, claiming that his client was merely a victim of a conspiracy
between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and
Khairiansyah.

"The defendant Mulyana had no intention of paying a bribe but
he was led into a trap," his lawyer Erick S. Paat said.

He said Mulyana had pledged nothing to the BPK auditor and
that the KPK had "conspired" with Khairiansyah to trap his client
by making an appointment with Mulyana for the handover of the
fund.

Erick told the court to punish Khairiansyah for breaching the
auditors' oath of office when he received facilities in auditing
the KPU funds.

In his own defense plea, Mulyana denied he was the "main
actor" in the bribery case, saying that KPU Chairman Nazaruddin
was also to blame.

Nazaruddin is also being tried in a separate graft trial
involving Rp 14 billion in a kickback from PT Asuransi Umum Bumi
Putra Muda 1967. He allegedly approved an insurance scheme with
the company for all KPU members and staffers during the 2004
general elections.