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Former Riau governor gets 14 years for graft
Rusli Zainal: (JP/Jerry Adiguna)The Pekanbaru Corruption Court sentenced on Wednesday former Riau governor Rusli Zainal to 14 years in prison for his role in the Pelalawan forestry permit and Riau National Games (PON) graft cases
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Rusli Zainal: (JP/Jerry Adiguna) (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
Rusli Zainal: (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
The Pekanbaru Corruption Court sentenced on Wednesday former Riau governor Rusli Zainal to 14 years in prison for his role in the Pelalawan forestry permit and Riau National Games (PON) graft cases.
The panel of judges, presided by Bachtiar Sitompul, also ordered the Golkar Party deputy chairman to pay Rp 1 billion in fines or serve an additional six months in prison if he failed to pay the fine.
Rusli was found guilty in both cases, violating articles 2 (1), 18, 55 and 56 (1) of Law No 31/1999 on corruption.
'[The defendant] has been found guilty of committing corruption that enriched other people or corporations, causing losses to the state,' Sitompul said.
In the forestry permit case, Rusli was charged with abusing his authority in approving the annual work plans of a number of private companies operating in Pelalawan regency, Riau.
While in the PON graft case, he was charged with bribing a group of local legislators via Riau Youth and Sports Agency head Lukman Abbas, in an attempt to expedite the revision of a bylaw to increase the budget allocation for the construction of the 2012 PON venues in Riau.
The panel of judges said that a number of Rusli's defense statements were unacceptable, and cited Rusli's claim that he was blackmailed by former Riau Forestry Agency head Syuhada Tasman into signing the documents.
According to the judges, Rusli's argument made no sense because he was an experienced government official. Before serving two consecutive terms as Riau governor, Rusli was regent of Indragiri Hilir for two consecutive terms.
The judges also said Rusli's testimony, in which he claimed to know nothing about the PON bribes, which were collected from companies operating in the province, was bogus because witnesses had refuted his claim and his involvement was confirmed in a recorded conversation.
'The recorded conversation with Lukman Abbas, heard by the judges, also confirmed that the money was collected on Rusli's instructions,' Sitompul said.
The panel of judges, however, refused to ban Rusli's political rights as demanded by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors. The sentence was more lenient than that demanded by the prosecutors, who asked the court to sentence Rusli to 17 years in prison.
Responding to the sentence, chief of the prosecution team, Riyono, said he would consider it, while Rusli promptly said he would appeal. 'I feel persecuted. I reject [the sentence] and will appeal,' he said.
Rusli's two wives, Septina Primawati and Syarifah Aida, attended the trial and broke in tears upon hearing the verdict. If Rusli sees out his sentence, he will be 71 upon release. Rusli was born in Indragirii Hilir on Dec. 3, 1957.
A scuffle broke out after the verdict was read. Rusli's bodyguard grabbed a journalist's camera when he attempted to photograph Syarifah as she cried. The bodyguard was later taken to Pekanbaru Police headquarters.
