T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it would appeal the Jakarta Corruption Court’s verdict that sentenced politically wired business tycoon Siti Hartati Murdaya to 32 months in prison and a Rp 150 million (US$15,515) fine.

“We will appeal to maintain the five-year sentence that we sought,” KPK spokesman Johan Budi told a press conference on Tuesday.

Hartati was found guilty of paying Rp 3 billion in bribes to Amran Batalipu, the former regent of Buol in Central Sulawesi, in order to expedite the issuance of a business permit that she needed for her oil palm plantation company, PT Hartati Inti Plantation, presiding judge Gusrizal said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Amran is waiting the verdict in is own trial after prosecutors demanded that the court sentence him to 12 years’ imprisonment in the case.

Speaking to reporters after her conviction, Hartati, a former member of the Democratic Party’s board of patrons, maintained her innocence.

The KPK has named two other suspects in the case: Hartati’s aides Gondo Sudjono and Yani Ansori. According to prosecutors, Hartati ordered Gondo, a general manager at HIP, and Yani Ansori, an operations director, to deliver a Rp 1 billion installment of a Rp 3 billion bribe to Amran at his home in Buol.

Gondo and Yani have each been sentenced to two-and-a-half-years in prison and ordered to pay Rp 50 million in fines for their role in the scandal.