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police officer will spend four-and-a-half years in prison after a corruption court in Bandung found him guilty of taking bribes from a Malaysian drug suspect currently named on an Interpol wanted list.

Comr. Brussel Duta Samudra was found guilty of accepting Rp 1 billion (US$110,000) from Azri bin Abdullah last July, when he was Cicendo police station chief, to allow the Malaysian citizen to walk free from his case.

“The defendant was proven guilty of committing corruption collectively as indicted. [We] hand him a jail-term of four years and six months, and Rp 200 million in fines — with the condition that, if forfeiting the payout, he should have a further three months of imprisonment,” judge Gusti Ngurah Artanaya said in his verdict at the Bandung Corruption Court on Tuesday.

The sentence far exceeded the demands of prosecutors, who had sought 18 months in jail and Rp 200 million in fines based on articles 11 and 18 of Law No. 20/2001 on corruption eradication.

However, the court also used Article 12 to form another count in the indictment.

The court said that Brussel, as a member of the national police, had received gratuities from a foreign citizen implicated in a drug case.

Brussel has been suspended from police duty since his case emerged in August last year.

Azri was nabbed last July at Hussein Sastranegara Airport and was allegedly carrying 4.27 grams of methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu.

Azri was later transported to Cicendo station where he was alleged to have offered Rp 1 billion to not be detained.

Brussel had accepted a payment offered to him via his aide, Adj. Comr. Suherman, who was in charge of detective unit.

The Malaysian was set free from detention and stayed at a hotel in the city, before being escorted to the airport for a flight to Malaysia.

Adj. Comr. Suherman was also sentenced to four years in prison and fined Rp 200 million.

The judges found that the letter issued by Brussel to suspend the suspect’s detention broke the law.

The letter, according to judge Adriano, raised several points.

Judge Adriano said that the letter was issued only on the suspect’s request, that the suspect’s whereabouts in Indonesia should have been clear and the suspect should have appointed a surety.

In fact, he said, after the letter was issued, Azri was escorted by Brussel’s subordinates to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and the suspect flew home.

The panel of judges said that they took into account two main points as exacerbating factors. Not only was the defendant deemed as not being supportive of the government’s corruption eradication campaign but his deed had set bad example for citizens.

Commenting on the verdict, Brussel’s lawyer Anwar Djamaludin said that his client would take some time to contemplate further action before deciding whether to appeal.

“Principally, we don’t accept the verdict. Many [mitigating] points have been overlooked, such as the fact that the money is still intact,” Anwar said.

He also said that his client’s decision to suspend detention had not violated the law.

He said Azri deserved to have his arrest postponed. “It’s clear, bail should not necessarily be in the form of a human but money. The state has lost nothing. This is not a case of bribery.”

Prosecutor Suroto Sumpena asked for time to consider whether to appeal against the verdict. “There exists a dissenting opinion, but the essence is the proof [that he was guilty of a criminal act],” he said.upt cop sentenced to 4.5 years in jail