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rosecutors sought on Friday a five-year sentence for Central Java Legislative Council deputy speaker Riza Kurniawan for his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of religious social funds from the 2008 provincial budget.

The prosecution also called for him to be fined Rp 300 million (US$31,000) or face an additional jail term of six months, and to return Rp 127 million to the state or serve an additional three months.

Prosecutor Edirus Manan told the Semarang Corruption Court that Riza had violated Articles 2 (1) and 18 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption eradication.

Edirus said aggravating factors included the fact that the misappropriated funds were social funds for religious activities and that the defendant had a prior conviction. Riza’s criminal record shows that he has been sentenced to two months’ jail in a drugs case

“Mitigating factors include the fact that the defendant has returned Rp 1.025 billion [to the state] and that he has behaved well in court,” Edirus said.

Riza is accused of having misappropriated the funds and causing a financial loss of Rp 1.152 billion to the state by disbursing the funds at a budget meeting and obliging the beneficiaries to give him kickbacks of between 60 percent and 70 percent of the funds they received.