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Corrupt judge gets light 2-year sentence
The judge who acquitted graft suspect Gayus H
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he judge who acquitted graft suspect Gayus H. Tambunan after receiving a US$40,000 bribe from the former taxman was handed a two-year prison sentence.
The East Jakarta District Court handed down a lighter sentence than the 3.5-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors for Muhtadi Asnun, a former judge at the Tangerang district court, because of his “good behavior and honesty during the trial”.
Asnun was also ordered to pay a Rp 50 million (US$5,550) fine.
Despite finding him guilty of receiving bribes, the judges said Asnun was a civil servant who “had dedicated his life to the people”.
It is not known whether Asnun or the prosecutors would appeal the ruling, but the sentence has drawn harsh criticism from antigraft activists.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Febri Diansyah said the sentence was far too lenient. “As a judge, he should have been given a heavier sentence. What he did damaged the country’s anticorruption drive,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Febri added that Asnun’s case hurt the government’s efforts to restore the integrity and credibility of law enforcement institutions. “Public trust in the judiciary is very low and Asnun made it more difficult to regain trust. That is why he should be punished to the maximum extent,” he said.
Asnun acquitted Gayus of money laundering and embezzlement charges in March. Gayus has admitted to giving up to Rp 30 billion to bribe police officers, prosecutors, and Asnun himself, to escape the charges.
On Wednesday, Gayus said at his trial at the South Jakarta District court that Asnun had hinted at a payoff. “I assumed it was a request for a bribe. I offered him $20,000,” Gayus said.
A few days later, Gayus said, he received text messages from Asnun asking him to double the offer.
“The text message read, ‘please increase the offer by 100 percent, then I will fulfill all of your requests’,” Gayus said.
He added that Asnun had also asked him to buy the judge’s daughter a car. Asnun had also asked Gayus to help his daughter get a job as a tax official, Gayus said.
Two police officers accused of receiving bribes from Gayus, Comr. Arafat Enanie and Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini, have been found guilty and sentenced to five years and two years in prison, respectively.
Asnun’s sentence is considerably lower than sentences received by former law enforcement officials recently.
In August, the Corruption Court sentenced Ibrahim, a Jakarta State Administrative High Court judge, to six years in prison and fined him Rp 200 million for receiving Rp 300 million in bribes from a palm oil
entrepreneur.
Upon appeal in November, Ibrahim’s sentence was reduced by one year, with the appeal judge citing Ibrahim’s need for twice-weekly dialysis as a factor.
