Miranda’s fate depends on strength of prosecutor’s evidence

A suspect in the high-profile Bank Indonesia bribery case, Miranda Swaray Goeltom, may escape a five-year prison term for bribery if the prosecutors’ case is weak.

Hasril Hertanto, executive director of the Indonesian Court Monitoring Society at the University of Indonesia, says weak evidence will provide leeway for Miranda to get only three years at most for paying kickbacks to lawmakers in return for her 2004 election as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor.

“It all depends on whether KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] prosecutors’ arguments are watertight proving that Miranda was the mastermind. That’s what needs to be proved,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

“If the arguments and evidence are weak, it would be difficult to charge Miranda with bribery.”

He said all this time the KPK seemed to be continuously targeting Nunun Nurbaeti, the wife of Prosperous Justice lawmaker and former National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. (ret.) Adang Daradjatun.

Nunun had been on the run for 10 months since she was named a suspect in the vote-buying case in February 2010, before she was finally arrested in December 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Nunun allegedly helped Miranda in the distribution of 480 traveler’s checks, worth a total of Rp 24 billion, to at least 33 former and current House of Representatives members overseeing finance affairs to help Miranda attain her position.

The KPK named Miranda a suspect on Thursday.

Miranda faces a maximum five-year prison term and a Rp 250 million (US$28,250) fine for bribery or a maximum of three years in prison and a Rp 150 million fine for paying kickbacks, if proven guilty.