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Semarang regent back on trial
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 10/01/2007 3:43 PM
SEMARANG: Semarang Regent Bambang Guritno, who was acquitted in July, has gone on trial again in the Semarang District Court on corruption charges.
Prosecutor S. Margono said during the trial that Bambang was involved in corruption in connection with the procurement of textbooks worth Rp 5.8 billion (US$...) for elementary and Islamic high schools. The plot was allegedly hatched at a meeting he wild with the Central Java chairman of the Indonesian Printers' Association, Kukrit Surya Wicaksono, in 2004.
They agreed to have the textbooks printed by a number of publishers in Central Java, such as CV Aneka Ilmu, Ganesha Exact and Intan Pariwara, he said.
They also agreed that Bambang would receive a kickback of Rp 650 million from the publishers and a commission worth 10 percent of the total value of the book procurement project, he said.
Margono said Bambang also recommended that the publishers provide a commission worth 5 to 10 percent of the project value to a number of Central Java administration officials and members of the provincial legislative council.
The case was uncovered after one of the Semarang council members from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) rejected the commission, he said.
Bambang was brought to trial on June 21 but the judges acquitted him on July 5 on the grounds that the prosecution indictment violated normal procedures. -- JP
