Fellow judge meddles in Mochtar controversy

Bandung District Court chief Joko Siswanto has said his colleagues had done the right thing by acquitting graft defendant and Bekasi mayor Mochtar Muhammad.

The acquittal verdict was in line with court procedures and existing regulations, Siswanto said Wednesday.

The panel would have had no choice but to acquit Mochtar if prosecutors couldn’t present them with enough evidence, he said.

“It is actually pretty normative down here. Nothing looks suspicious from where I stand,” Siswanto said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

When asked to comment on why three graft defendants had been acquitted at the same court (while Jakarta Corruption Court has a 100 percent conviction record), Siswanto said it was merely a coincidence.

Bandung Corruption Court acquitted Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Muhammad from four counts of graft. Earlier, the same court also acquitted Subang regent Eep Hidayat and Bogor deputy mayor Ahmad Ru’yat.