Two years sought for poll official

Wahyoe Boediwardhana , The Jakarta Post , Malang | Tue, 02/19/2008 11:40 AM | National

Prosecutors demanded Monday that the Malang District Court sentence a newly-elected poll official to two years for alleged corruption.

The court should also fine Syamsul Bahri Rp 50 million and order him to pay Rp 489.3 million in compensation for state losses resulting from his criminal acts, they said.

"Should the defendant be unable to pay, prosecutors will confiscate all of his assets, or he must be jailed for (an additional) one year," prosecutor Abdul Qohar told the court.

The corruption trial has forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to postpone Syamsul's inauguration as a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

In a meeting late last year the President and House leaders decided to wait to decide on the defendant's KPU status until after the end of the trial.

Earlier, the House was publicly slammed for naming corruption suspect Syamsul as one of the seven new KPU members.

Qohar said Syamsul was "legally and convincingly proven guilty" of abusing his authority as head of the Community Dedication Institute (LPM) at state Brawijaya University when handling a 2003 sugar factory development project in Malang, East Java.

The prosecutors said the punishment was deserved for abuse of authority causing losses to the state -- a subsidiary charge -- while the primary charge of "enriching himself, others or a corporation causing state losses" couldn't be proven.

He said the defendant received a business contract to develop a sugar factory in 2001.

Syamsul also received a total of Rp 645.9 million from Malang plantation office head Freddy Talahatu for the LMP to finance the project, prosecutors said.

But, according to prosecutors, only Rp 156 million of the fund was used to pay the consulting and supervision services for the project, while the remaining Rp 489.3 million went to various parties involved in the business activity.

Syamsul, accompanied by his lawyer Abdul Salam, asked the court to give him a week to prepare a defense plea.

The panel of judges, presided over by Hanifah Hidayat Noer, adjourned the trial for a week at which time it would hear the defense plea.