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.