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lthough deemed by many as unfair, the Jakarta Corruption Court’s decision to sentence former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin to “only” four years and ten months of imprisonment has sparked hopes that other big names believed to be implicated in the high-profile case will soon face justice.

The court found Nazaruddin guilty of involvement in the bribery scandal that has rocked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s ruling party. The court also ordered the convict to pay a Rp 200 million (US$21,776) fine or serve an additional four months in prison.

The sentence was lower than the prosecutors’ demand for seven years in prison.

Nazaruddin was charged with accepting Rp 4.6 billion in the form of five checks to rig a tender related to the construction of an athletes’ village for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Many people believe Nazaruddin possess valuable information as he has often dished out dirt on other high-profile figures in other graft cases. In his testimonies during his trial, Nazaruddin often pointed his finger to “big names” within the Democratic Party, such as Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng and his brother Zulkarnain “Choel” Mallarangeng, head of the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee Mirwan Amir, Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, party deputy secretary-general Saan Mustofa and former party faction chairman Djafar Hafsah.

The SEA Games case also revealed the involvement of the House’s Budget Committee. The prosecutors told the court that Nazaruddin had operated from within the House in securing the budget for the project. They said he channeled Rp 3 billion and Rp 2 billion each to the House’s Budgetary Committee members through lawmakers Angelina Sondakh, who is also a suspect in the case, and I Wayan Koster of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle on May 5, 2010.

Nazaruddin is implicated in at least five dubious procurement cases in which his companies — some of which are under holding company Permai Group and some are stand-alone firms — allegedly rigged bids to win government projects. They later subcontracted the projects out to larger companies in exchange for fees. Some of the cases are still the subjects of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) preliminary inquiries.

He is also suspected of money laundering in a different case, while his wife Neneng Sri Wahyuni is a fugitive and suspect in another botched procurement project involving the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

People are hoping the court can bring justice by handing down heavy punishment so as to deter others from committing corruption.

Other than corruption, intolerance remains a threat facing the country as evident in the act of violence against Ahmadiyah followers in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Friday morning. Just hours before the Friday’s prayer, members of a hard-line Muslim group vandalized a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah followers, the regular target of attacks due to their belief, which the Indonesian Ulema Council says is heretical.

The West Java Police, however, have yet to detain any of the perpetrators, pending official reports from the local police.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto condemned the attack, saying such a violent act should not have happened in the first place. He emphasized that the police should immediately investigate the case.

This is not the first time Ahmadis have come under attack in their own mosques. The last incident took place in Cianjur, also in West Java, in February.

Ahmadis have been enduring persecution in several countries, including Indonesia, where mainstream Muslim followers have branded them as heretics. Several provincial administrations in the country, including West Java, have banned the sect, citing “security concerns”.

Critics and rights groups have condemned the government for doing little to prevent the Muslim hard-liners from taking the law into their hands and for failing to ensure the police and the existing legal system protect freedom of religion and the rights of minority groups.

Once again, law enforcers have come under the public spotlight following fatal assaults involving “motorcycle gangs” recently. President Yudhoyono, through spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha, has ordered the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) to cooperate in ending the string of violence based on suspicion that members of both forces were involved.

At least two people were killed and eight others were injured in the brutal assaults. The Jakarta Police have named a university student as a suspect in the case.

In what seems to be a face-saving measure, the Jakarta Police decided to replace North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Andap Budhi Revianto and Pademangan precinct police chief Comr. Ahmad David following the violence. However, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto insisted that the changing of the guards was routine and part of their tours of duty.

Many are suspicious that both officers were removed from their posts due to the recent series of brutal assaults, especially as the first incident occurred in Pademangan, North Jakarta. In the March 31 attack, Navy First Seaman Arifin Sirih was assaulted and killed by a group of people. Three other attacks on April 7, April 8 and April 13 followed during a two-week period, all of which were described by the police as “acts of reprisal” for Arifin’s death.

The police and the TNI have conducted joint patrols in areas considered prone to these attacks by the biker groups to prevent such assaults and bring security back to the capital. Strict and quick enforcement of the law, however, would prevent an incident from spiraling out of control as the motorcycle gang case has taught.

— Primastuti Handayani