Governor gets 18 months in Kalimantan illegal logging case

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 03/23/2007 4:25 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Anticorruption Court sentenced suspended East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah on Thursday to 18 months in prison for land concession permits he issued in 2001. The permits led to illegal logging that wiped out a million hectares of forest.

The judges also fined the defendant Rp 200 million (US$21,968). The verdict was much lighter than the seven-year jail term sought by prosecutors.

Suwarna is the third governor who has been convicted for graft. In 2005, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam governor Abdullah Puteh was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and Banten governor Joko Munandar received a two-year sentence.

Presiding judge Gusrizal said Suwarna was proven guilty of abusing his authority as governor and causing the state to suffer financial losses.

""The defendant launched a project to develop a one-million-hectare palm oil plantation in East Kalimantan by issuing bylaw No. 5/2001. The bylaw granted licenses to a group of companies under the PT Surya Dumai Group (SDG),"" Gusrizal said while reading the verdict, as quoted by Antara news wires.

The judge said the move violated Forestry Ministry decrees on logging and plantation licensing.

""The defendant exceeded his authority when he issued the licenses. His act has caused the companies to gain access and secure profit,"" Gusrizal said.

Besides Suwarna, the court implicated the then-Director General of Productive Forest Management at the Forestry Ministry, Waskito Suryodiprodjo, then-East Kalimantan forestry division head Robian and then-local forestry office head Uuh Alyudin in the issuance of illegal logging permits to PT SDG.

The judges, however, refused to endorse the Rp 346.8 billion (US$37.8 million) in state losses claimed by the Development Finance Controller.

""The data on the inflicted state losses has been provided by the prosecutors, but not obtained through field study,"" Gusrizal said.

The court recognized only Rp 5.167 billion in losses based on the testimony of Martias, alias Pung Kian Hwa, another defendant in the same case who was tried separately. The figure was the amount of profit PT SDG secured during the period.

A lawyer for Suwarna, Otto Hasibuan, said his client would likely file an appeal.

Should Suwarna accept the verdict, he would serve only another nine months in jail. He has been held since June 19 last year.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |