Medan mayor gets five years for corruption

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 09/23/2008 10:06 AM  |  National

Non-active Medan Mayor Abdillah has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement in the procurement of a fire engine in 2006.

"The defendant is found legally and convincingly guilty of violating Article 3 of the 1999 Corruption Law," presiding judge Edward Pattinasarani said at the Corruption Court here Monday.

The article stipulates abuse of power with the intention of benefiting from someone or other people or a corporation. A violation of the article carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion (US$107,527).

Abdillah was fined Rp 250 million, and faces an additional six months in prison should he fail to pay the fine.

He was also obliged to pay Rp 17.86 billion in restitution to the state, one month after the verdict was illegally endorsed, or face another four years imprisonment should he fail to pay the restitution.

The verdict was lighter than the eight-year prison term and Rp 23 billion in restitution demanded by prosecutors.

Abdillah was proven to have caused state losses of Rp 26.9 billion.

The case also implicated Medan Deputy Mayor Ramli, who is currently standing trial in the case, and the director of PT Satal Nusantara, Hengky Samuel Daud. Hengky's firm was the supplier of the fire engine. Hengky, however, remains at large.

Abdillah and Ramli violated existing tender procedures by directly pointing PT Satal Nusantara as the supplier of the fire engine.

The former mayor had been charged of violating two articles of the corruption law -- Article 2(1) as the main charge and Article 3 as the secondary charge. Both articles carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and maximum fine of Rp 1 billion.

However, the panel of judges only found him guilty of violating the secondary charge, saying they found the verification by prosecutors during the trial "unusual".

"According to the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), the prosecutors were supposed to prove their indictments one by one. But instead, they combined the verification of the main and secondary charges," the judges said.

Judge Andi Bachtiar gave his dissenting opinion over the verdict, saying Abdillah could have also been sentenced for violating Article 3 of the law.

Abdillah's lawyer Ahmad Yani said he would use the seven-day period granted by the court to consider his next step.

"The trial did not show enough evidence to prove my client's involvement in the case. There are no documents confirming my client ordered his subordinates to directly appoint the company," he said.

Prosecutor Katarina M. Girsang said she considered the indictments to have met all the requirements as stipulated in the KUHAP.

"However, it was the judges' right to decide," she said.

Prosecutors said they would also use the seven-day period to consider their next step.

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