Officials sentenced to 2.5 years in PON bribery case

The Pekanbaru Corruption Court on Friday sentenced officials to two years and six months in prison and Rp 50 million (US$5224) in fines in a bribery case surrounding the construction of the National Games venues in Pekanbaru, Riau.

Presiding judge Krosbin Lumban Gaol said that the two defendants, Eka Dharma Putra, a manager of state-owned construction company PT Pembangunan Perumahan and Rahmat Syahputra, former chief of Riau Youth and Sports Agency, had been found guilty of giving Rp 900 million to local councilors as a reward for revising Bylaw No.6/2012 on the national games budget, which included an additional Rp 900 billion, on top of the Rp 900 billion.

“The defendants have been found guilty violating Article 5 of the Corruption Law on bribery and Article 55 of the Criminal Code,” Krosbin said.

The sentence was lighter than three years and six months in prison and Rp 100 million in fine demanded by the prosecutors.

Both Eka and Rahmat were considering whether or not to appeal against the verdict.

The Corruption Eradication Commission have named ten local councilors as suspects in the case.

The National Games will be start this week. (swd)