Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday demanded 10 years'€™ imprisonment for suspended Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah for allegedly masterminding a scheme to bribe former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar.

'€œWe call on the panel of judges to find the defendant guilty of corruption as stipulated in the 2001 Corruption Law,'€ prosecutor Edy Hartoyo said at the court while reading his 600-page sentence demand on Monday.

The 10 years demanded is lower than the maximum 15 years for an individual found guilty of bribing a judge as stipulated in Article 6 of the 2001 Corruption Law.

The 10-year prison term is the same sentence prosecutors sought for Atut'€™s younger brother, businessman brother, Tubagus Chaeri '€œWawan'€ Wardana, who was later sentenced to five years in prison in the case. Wawan was found guilty of providing the bribe for Akil, as allegedly instructed by Atut.

Prosecutors said that the trial, which has been running for around three months, had found evidence that Atut, Wawan and Akil met in Singapore to talk about the scheme to overturn the victory of opposing ticket Iti Octavia Jayabaya-Ade Sumardi in the Lebak regency election.

Atut, known for having built a powerful political dynasty in Banten, wanted to retain control of Lebak, a regency where she wielded less power, by endorsing losing candidate Amir Hamzah, who is from the same party as Atut, the Golkar Party.

Later, Akil agreed to help Atut annul the victory of Iti and ordered Wawan to provide Rp 3 billion (US$254,694) for his services.

After overturning Iti'€™s victory, Akil became angry upon finding out that Wawan was only able to provide Rp 1 billion of the Rp 3 billion agreed to, which was delivered through go-between lawyer Susi Tur Andayani, who has been sentenced to five years in prison in the case.

In addition to the sentence demand, KPK prosecutors also demanded the panel of judges order Atut to pay a Rp 250 million fine or serve an additional five months in prison.

'€œWe also demand the judges strip the defendant of her political rights,'€ Edy said.

Prosecutors said factors that lead to the sentence demand included Atut'€™s failure to show remorse and admit her wrongdoings during the trial.

Atut was the first female in the country to be elected a governor as well as the first female governor to be charged with corruption.

Prior to being elected governor in 2006, Atut was Banten deputy governor during the 2002-2007 period. She later replaced former Banten governor Djoko Munandar, who was arrested for graft.

Atut was elected Banten governor in 2006 and was re-elected in a landslide win in the 2011 Banten gubernatorial election.

After the trial, Atut'€™s lawyer, Tubagus Sukatma, described the sentence demand as '€œtoo heavy'€.

'€œThis is excessive, not to mention prosecutors are also demanding that my client be stripped of her right to run for office in the future,'€ Tubagus said.

Atut will appear next week at the court to read her defense statement.

Political observer and anticorruption campaigner from Banten'€™s Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, Dahnil Anzar, said he deplored KPK prosecutors for not demanding the maximum 15 years'€™ imprisonment for Atut.

'€œKPK prosecutors have all the reason to demand a maximum sentence for Atut. It very is important because doing so would prevent other regional heads from bribing court justices to preserve their political dynasties,'€ Dahnil said, adding that the KPK should reveal other graft cases in Banten involving Atut'€™s family members.

Atut and Wawan may also face another 20 years for allegedly rigging health equipment projects worth billions of rupiah in the administration of Banten, South Tangerang, where Wawan'€™s wife Airin Rachmi Diany currently serves
as mayor.

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