T

he first hearing of the graft trial of Golkar Party lawmaker Zulkarnaen Djabar and his son Dendy Prasetya, who have been indicted for their roles in the Koran procurement scandal at the Religious Affairs Ministry, was held in Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday.

Prosecutors accused Zulkarnaen of abusing his authority as well as receiving bribes during the deliberation of the budget for the procurement project, a violation of Article 5 of the 2001 Corruption Law that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Shortly before the trial members of the Golkar-affiliated organization MKGR, one of party’s three core organizations, picketed the courtroom, in a show of support for the defendants.

Both defendants are leading members of the organization.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named Zulkarnaen and Dendi suspects in June in a graft case involving the procurement of Korans at the ministry in 2011 and 2012.

The KPK prosecutors alleged Zulkarnaen, a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs rigged the budget for the project so that Dendy, who ran a printing press PT Karya Sinergi Alam Indonesia, could win the tender.

The value of the procurement project was Rp 20 billion (US$2.07 million) in 2011 and Rp 55 billion in 2012 and the state suffered Rp 14 billion in losses from the alleged graft.

Last week, the KPK expanded its probe into the Koran procurement case by requesting travel bans for former high-ranking officials at the ministry.

A source at the KPK disclosed on Sunday that new travel bans had been issued against two ministry officials; former director of Sharia guidance at the directorate general for Islamic guidance, Ahmad Jauhari, and the general secretary of the directorate, Abdul Karim.

Earlier this month, the KPK named Jauhari as a new suspect in the scandal. The antigraft body said there was enough evidence to bring charges against Jauhari.

Jauhari could be charged under Article 2 on self-enrichment, or Article 3 on abuse of authority, of the 2001 Corruption Law. If found guilty he could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The corruption took place under the watch of Nasaruddin Umar when he was chief of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s Islamic education directorate general. Nasaruddin is currently the deputy minister.

Nasaruddin was summoned by the KPK for questioning in August last year during which he said that Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali should be held accountable for the case.

According to the KPK, the Religious Affairs Ministry was the most corrupt institution of 22 government agencies it surveyed in 2011.

The ministry received 5.37 points out of a possible 10, below the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, which received 5.44 points, and the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, which received 5.52 points.

The KPK previously announced that it had discovered irregularities in the management of Rp 1.7 trillion in interest on payments made by haj pilgrims, the funds are managed by the ministry.