The Makassar District Court exonerated on Tuesday assistant to South Sulawesi provincial secretary for administration Sidik Salam from all charges in connection with alleged corruption in procurement of a plot of land for construction project of the Celebes Convention Center.
The panel of judges, which was presided by Parlas Nababan, said state prosecutors had failed to prove Sidik guilty of administrative flaws, which caused the state to suffer Rp 3.45 billion (US$383,000) in losses.
The acquittal came on the heels of a study from the Indonesia Corruption Watch, which revealed that district courts often protected corruption suspects.
As a result of his acquittal, Sidik will be released from detention and have his reputation rehabilitated.
The state prosecutors had accused Sidik of negligence that caused the provincial administration to pay a man, Hamid Rahim Sese, Rp 3.45 billion for the land acquisition. It turned out later that the land belonged to the state.
The prosecutors had also charged Sidik with enriching himself and therefore sought a two-year jail term for him. But later on they dropped the charge, citing a lack of evidence.
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