Poll body member jailed for graft

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 09/16/2006 9:01 AM

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former General Election Committee (KPU) member Daan Dimara thanked the judges at the Anticorruption Court who sentenced him to four years in prison Friday in a graft case involving the procurement of ballot seals for the 2004 elections.

Daan must also pay a fine of Rp 200 million (about US$21,000) within a month, or face an additional two months in jail.

Daan is the third KPU member convicted of graft. He told presiding judge Gusrizal that he was glad the five-month trial was finally over. ""It's tiring,"" he said.

In contrast to previous sessions, his supporters were calm.

""I'm considering appealing, give me time,"" Daan said after a judge told him that four years was the lightest verdict they could hand down; the heaviest was 20 years.

The court found the 62-year-old guilty of directly appointing PT Royal Standard to print the ballot seals for the 2004 legislative election, violating a presidential decree that such purchases must be publicly tendered.

The panel of judges stated that Daan had signed a letter awarding PT Royal Standard the contract for the legislative election. They said he did not determine the price of the seals for the presidential election.

""The trial revealed that, as corroborated by witnesses Untung Sastrawijaya and Bakri Asnuri, the price of the seals for the first round and the second round of the 2004 presidential election, amounting to Rp 99 per piece, was concluded in a meeting on June 2004 led by Hamid Awaluddin,"" the judges said.

Daan reported Hamid to police on Thursday for alleged perjury. Hamid, who is now justice minister, testified at the trial on July 25 that he did not attend the meeting on June 14 to discuss the purchase and pricing of the seals for the presidential vote.

The court dropped the charge that Daan had received US$110,000 in kickbacks from various companies through former KPU finance deputy Hamdani Amin. It ruled Daan could get back money he had already surrendered in the case.

""We conclude that the US$30,000 paid to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) by the defendant must be returned,"" Gusrizal said.

Prosecutors had sought 6.5 years in jail for Daan. They had also demanded that the court order him to pay compensation for state losses amounting to Rp 3.5 billion together with fellow suspect Untung Sasterawijaya, who was earlier sentenced to 5.5 years in prison and fined Rp 250 million.

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