The Jakarta Corruption Court handed down a lenient five-year prison sentence on Monday to Tubagus Chaeri '€œWawan'€ Wardana, the politically wired Banten businessman who is the younger brother of suspended Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah.

Wawan was found guilty of having bribed disgraced ex-Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar.

The sentence was half of the 10-year prison term sought by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors.

In the same hearing, the Jakarta Corruption Court also sentenced lawyer Susi Tur Andayani to five years in prison for serving as a go-between who helped Wawan pay a Rp 1 billion (US$83.386) bribe to Akil in return for a favorable ruling in the Lebak regency election dispute being heard by the Constitutional Court.

The KPK prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison term for Susi.

In what came as a surprise to many observers, the panel of judges deemed Susi the most important actor in the bribery case, and considered Wawan only a minor player.

'€œBoth defendants committed criminal corruption in the Lebak election case. If we look at their roles, Susi was more active than Wawan in the case. Susi actively contacted Akil to talk about the bribery scheme,'€ read judge Matheus Samiadji from the verdict at the court on Monday.

Matheus also said that Susi had asked Wawan to provide the Rp 1 billion for Akil to help Amir Hamzah and Kasmin, regent and deputy regent candidates respectively in the Lebak regency election who challenged the victory of winning ticket Iti Octavia Jayabaya and Ade Sumardi at the Constitutional Court.

The panel of judges also argued that Wawan could see his prison term increase due to other graft cases currently being handled by the KPK.

'€œThe defendant still has other graft and money laundering cases being handled by the KPK,'€ Matheus said, referring to cases centering on the graft-ridden procurement of medical equipment in Banten and South Tangerang, where Wawan'€™s wife Airin Rachmi Diany serves as the mayor.

Wawan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars for graft and money laundering in those cases.

On Monday, the judges also found Wawan guilty of playing a role in giving Akil Rp 7.5 billion to guarantee the victory of his sister Atut in the 2011 Banten gubernatorial election, which was being challenged at the Constitutional Court.

Despite the lenient sentence, Wawan said he was considering filing an appeal.

'€œI will use the time given to think about the verdict and discuss a plan with my family and my team of lawyers,'€ Wawan told reporters after the sentencing.

Separately, KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said that it was highly likely the antigraft body would file an appeal challenging the light sentence.

'€œWe will make a decision within the next seven days,'€ Bambang told a press conference at the KPK headquarters on Monday.

Bambang also said the KPK would appeal Susi'€™s sentence, as the court sentenced her for paying out bribes but not for receiving them, as the KPK prosecutors charged she had done in their indictment.

'€œAlthough both the judges and the KPK agreed that Susi had committed a crime in the Lebak case, we will challenge the ruling so that it will be consistent with our indictment regarding her role in the case as a bribe taker working on behalf of Akil to collect money from regional heads, and not only as a bribe payer,'€ Bambang said.

Monday'€™s sentencing also saw two of the five judges voice their dissent regarding Susi'€™s role in the case.

The dissenting judges said KPK prosecutors had made errors in using Article 12 of the 2001 Corruption Law on receiving bribes and demanded the panel of judges acquit Susi.

Due to the dissent, the panel of judges compromised by applying Article 6 of the 2001 Corruption Law on paying bribes to Susi, not Article 12 invoked by KPK prosecutors in their indictment.

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