T

he Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin, a former treasurer of the Democratic Party, and sentenced him to seven years in prison for bribery.

The country’s highest court handed down the verdict on Tuesday, adding two years and two months to his sentence.

The Supreme Court also increased the fine that Nazaruddin has to pay from Rp 200 million (US$20,779) to Rp 300 million.

“The Supreme Court rejects the defendant’s appeal and accepts the prosecutors’ demand,” presiding Supreme Court justice Artidjo Alkostar, said on Tuesday.

The Jakarta Corruption Court had found Nazaruddin guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced him to four years and 10 months in prison.

The Supreme Court found that Nazaruddin was also guilty of initiating the meetings which later spawned the graft scheme.

The justices concluded that Nazaruddin was guilty of breaches of Article 12 (b) of the 2001 Corruption Law on bribery. The verdict automatically annuls the Jakarta Corruption Court conviction of April 20, 2012, which was on Article 11 on gratuities.

The verdict was lower than the KPK prosecutors’ demand of seven years.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad hailed the Supreme Court’s verdict saying: “This is the kind of punishment that the KPK wants in as a deterrent to corruptors,” he said.

Nazaruddin’s lawyer Elza Syarief was disappointed with the verdict.

“The Supreme Court should reduce his jail term. He has helped uncover other corruption cases and the KPK are following leads that Nazaruddin gave them,” she said.

Elza said she planned to submit a case review after consulting with her client. Nazaruddin was tried in the 2011’s Southeast Asian (SEA)SEA Games bribery scandal centering on the construction of athlete’s dormitory in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Nazaruddin was a member of the House sport commission at that time and was found to have accepted Rp 4.6 billion from businessman Mohamad El Idris, marketing director of construction company PT Duta Graha Indah (DGI), to rig the bid in DGI’s favor.

KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said that the KPK continued to gather information and evidence that could implicate Nazaruddin in other graft cases.

The commission has opened a full-blown investigation into money laundering allegations against Nazaruddin, who is suspected of using money from the SEA Games scandal to purchase shares in PT Garuda Indonesia.

The KPK recently questioned Nazaruddin’s aide Gerhana Sianipar.

The KPK has also found evidence for Nazaruddin’s alleged involvement in several other graft cases including those at the Transportation Ministry and the Education and Culture Ministry.