T

he public outcry over the recent controversial acquittals by the Bandung Corruption Court has prompted judges to try to restore public trust by handing down a prison sentence and fine against a low-ranking civil servant.

The court sentenced Dedi Hamdani, a former employee at the Central Village Cooperatives Unit (Puskud), to one year in prison and a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,800), or an additional two months in prison. Dedi was found guilty of misappropriating funds from the sale of subsidized fertilizer in Bandung regency in 2008, which caused Rp 108.2 million in state losses.

The verdict was handed down by presiding judge Sumantono, who was accompanied by panel judges Ramlan Comel and Iskandar Harun at the Bandung Corruption Court on Tuesday, with only the defendant’s lawyer and two prosecutors attending.

Dedi, 50, a former warehouse guard at the Bandung regency Puskud, acknowledged he was shocked by the verdict, although it was far more lenient that the sentence of 3.5 years sought by prosecutors.

“The prosecutors produced 13 witnesses, including the imprisoned Puskud director, who asked the judges to acquit me because I’m not guilty. I had only distributed subsidized fertilizer in accordance with instructions from my superiors. Funds from the sale of the fertilizer are still due at the shops and the Village Cooperatives Unit [KUD]. I’ve no business in collecting the funds,” Dedi told The Jakarta Post.

Dedi said he was just a courier for the supplies with responsibility only to guard the warehouse but no authority to issue sales agreements of fertilizer to shops and the KUD, which was directly overseen by the director.

Dedi considered the verdict as unfair because he was initially just a witness for the former director of trade for the West Java Puskud, M. Hazaeni Adam, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on April 21, 2010, for corruption in the distribution of subsidized fertilizer, which caused a loss of Rp 4.05 billion to the state.

He also testified for former West Java Puskud managing director Karna, who was sentenced at virtually the same time as Hazaeni. Karna died in Bandung’s Kebonwaru penitentiary earlier this year.

Dedi had been required to report to the West Java Prosecutor’s Office once every two weeks from 2009, until he was named a suspect and handed over to the corruption court in April this year as a graft suspect.

He has attended more than 10 trial sessions, which was a strain due to financial constraints. Since being dismissed from Puskud in 2008, he has run a roadside tire repair service and his wife works as a laundress. According to Dedi, it was difficult for them to save money for the
Rp 20,000 transportation fare from Baleendah, Bandung regency, to the court in Bandung, every session.

He entrusted his three children to a relative in Purwokerto, Central Java, as he could no longer afford the high living costs after losing his Rp 900,000 monthly salary as a Puskud employee, which he had
enjoyed since 1982.

Judge Sumatono said Dedi was acqitted on the primary charge of enriching himself. However, he was found guilty of his misdeeds of benefiting other people and violating the Corruption Law.