Syamsul walks free, ready to get KPU job

Wahyoe Boediwardhana ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Malang, East Java   |  Fri, 03/14/2008 1:19 AM  |  Headlines

Syamsul Bahri said Thursday he was ready to take up his post on the General Elections Commission (KPU) after being acquitted of graft charges by the Malang District Court in East Java.

Syamsul praised the verdict and said he was excited to be sworn in as an elected member of the national poll body.

"Since this is a mandate for me, as a member of the KPU I am ready to be sworn in and serve the country," he said after the verdict was announced.

The government postponed swearing in Syamsul as a KPU member pending the outcome of his graft trial, which was related to his involvement in a sugar factory project.

The professor at the School of Agriculture at Malang's Brawijaya University was detained for more than a month before the court released him on city detention.

Syamsul was elected by the House of Representatives as one of seven members of the KPU.

Sayuti Asyathri of the House's Commission II overseeing political affairs said Syamsul should be sworn in immediately, given the amount of work facing the poll body in preparing for next year's elections.

"Based on the law, the President should immediately swear him in as an elected KPU member. Syamsul has to send a letter to the President, explaining that his case is over. He must also withdraw his previous letter (asking for the postponement of his swearing in). Now it depends on the President when he is going to swear him in," Sayuti of the National Mandate Party told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

Syamsul's lawyer, Fahmi Bahmid, also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately install his client on the poll body.

"We knew from the beginning this case was not really a criminal case dealing with corruption. Throughout what was a lengthy trial, they could not prove the charges," he said.

Presiding judge Hanifah Hidayat said in the verdict that the testimony and evidence presented in court by the prosecution failed to prove the charges against Syamsul.

"Because the panel of judges found the charges were not proven during the trial, the defendant is acquitted of both the primary and lesser charges. The defendant is also released from his city detention status and his name rehabilitated," the judge said.

State prosecutor Abdul Qohar said he had 14 days to decide whether to appeal the verdict.

The prosecution had demanded the court sentence Syamsul to two years in prison, fine him Rp 50 million (US$5,494) and order him to pay Rp 489.3 million in compensation to the state.

Syamsul received a contract in 2001 to oversee the development of a sugar factory. He revised the contract two years later, after there was an increase in the factory's capacity.

The prosecution alleged that Syamsul illegally distributed Rp 489.3 million allocated by Brawijaya University's Student Research Institute for the construction to parties involved in the project. (dia)

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