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big thumbs-up goes out to the Supreme Court for its rejection of an appeal and simultaneously handing down heavier punishment for Gayus H. Tambunan, a former junior taxman who has been at the center of several high-profile graft cases.

The panel of justices not only upheld a lower court ruling that found Gayus guilty of multiple corruption charges, but thought the defendant was entitled to a longer prison term.

The verdict deserves commendation on the grounds that it defies the common practice whereby justices frequently issue more lenient sentences in appeal cases that reach Indonesia’s highest judicial authority.

Still, the verdict is far from the general public’s hopes for corruption convicts such as Gayus. His crime was considered extraordinary, so he should have been handed a severe punishment to deter others. In China, people like Gayus would likely face a firing squad.

On Wednesday, the court announced it had upheld the lower court verdict because Gayus had been found guilty of bribing a judge and two police officers, and embezzling tax money. The court also increased his prison sentence from 10 to 12 years, and ordered he pay Rp 500 million (US$59,000) in fines or serve an additional six months in prison.

Gayus was convicted in January of bribing judge Muhtadi Asnun and police officer Comr. Arafat Enanie in exchange for his acquittal in his first trial (at Tangerang District Court). He was also found guilty of abusing his authority as a tax official in his handling of a tax complaint by seafood company PT Surya Alam Tunggal that had cost the state Rp 570 million in losses. On top of that he was found guilty of conspiring with businessman Andi Kosasih to create a fake agreement to unfreeze his bank account that had contained Rp 28 billion.

South Jakarta District Court sentenced Gayus to seven years in prison for his crimes. The sentence fell far short of prosecutors’ demand for 20 years’ imprisonment and Rp 500 million in fines. But then, in May, Jakarta High Court extended Gayus’ prison sentence to 10 years, after an appeal was filed by both Gayus and prosecutors.

The Supreme Court panel of justices — Krisna Harahap, Artidjo Alkostar and Syamsul Rakan Chaniago — were right to insist on sentencing Gayus more heavily because tax crime is a burden on the state.

“The defendant is a tax officer. He is a civil servant who must serve this country and its people. Yet, he robs the people … the low-income people,” Justice Krisna Harahap said.

According to Article 3 of the 1999 Corruption Law, graft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and Rp 1 billion in fines. Above all the legal considerations, this verdict fails to satisfy the public’s long wait for the “first ever” serious punishment imposed on someone found guilty of an “extraordinary crime”.

Such a heavy sentence would serve as the “shock therapy” this country needs to deter others from committing graft.

Many people, particularly those in legal circles, have said that to combat extraordinary crime Indonesia needs more than “common” measures. Now that this nation has declared corruption an extraordinary crime, unusual measures such as maximum penalties are very much needed because graft is the most rampant crime we face.