Wives of Crude Oil Corruption Defendants Visit Parliament to Seek Assistance

The wives of the defendants in the corruption case concerning the governance of crude oil and refinery products at PT Pertamina (Persero) visited the DPR on Thursday (23/4). Those present included the wife of Riva Siahaan, Windayati Wanayu; the wife of Maya Kusmaya, Verininta G Arman; the wife of Agus Purwono, Nina Anggraini; the wife of Edward Corne, Rorina Pakpahan; the wife of Yoki Firnandi, Utari Wardhani; and the wife of defendant Sani Dinar Saifuddin, Rahmi Alma F Adang. Windayati Wanayu, wife of Riva Siahaan, stated that the visit by the wives of the defendants was to seek assistance for justice from Commission III of the DPR RI. “We came here today to Commission III of the DPR RI to request your assistance in our husbands’ case to seek justice, because our husbands are convicts without a crime,” said Windayati. Verininta G Arman, wife of Maya Kusmaya, said that her husband and the other defendants had long worked at Pertamina and started their careers from the bottom. She claimed that the defendants were being criminalised. She also mentioned that they had worked well all this time. Verininta alluded to several witness statements presented in the trial, namely former President Commissioner of PT Pertamina, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok, and former President Director of PT Pertamina, Nicke Widyawati. “They have worked well, and that’s not my word, but based on the facts of the trial and the witnesses in the trial. Mrs Nicke and Mr Ahok said that during our husbands’ leadership, Pertamina was profitable,” said Verininta. She stated that the action of visiting the DPR was not to defend corruptors, but to seek justice. “We truly seek justice, we are not here to defend corruptors, we defend the truth, and our husbands did not receive a single penny,” she said. Previously, the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court had handed down verdicts on Thursday (26/2). Former Director of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, Riva Siahaan, was sentenced to 9 years in prison and a fine of Rp1 billion subsidiary 190 days imprisonment. Maya Kusmaya, former Central Marketing and Trading Director of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, was sentenced to 9 years in prison and a fine of Rp1 billion subsidiary 190 days. Then Edward Corne, former VP of Trading Operations at PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp1 billion subsidiary 190 days.