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Arrogant Akil meets his match behind bars
Akil Mochtar
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Akil Mochtar. JP
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Monday that it had imposed a disciplinary sanction against disgraced former Constitutional Court chief Justice Akil Mochtar for getting into a fight with another graft detainee at the KPK detention center during the Idul Fitri holiday.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi confirmed that Akil was involved in a tense quarrel with graft suspect Bogor Regent Rachmat Yasin, adding that due to the incident, both had been banned from receiving any guests for one month.
'The quarrelling did not end with a physical fight because detention center officers separated them right away. As a disciplinary sanction, they will not receive any visitors for about one month,' Johan said on Monday.
Johan said the incident took place on Aug. 5 when Akil complained about visitation rules at the KPK detention center during the Idul Fitri holiday, but did not know exactly how Akil and Rachmat ended up getting into a verbal match.
'I don't know the details of the fight,' Johan added.
Akil, who was sentenced to life in prison for receiving billions of rupiah from a number of regional heads during his tenure at the court and laundering the money in the form of assets, was notorious for his arrogant behavior during his almost five-month trial, from February until July.
During the trial of Chairun Nisa, one of the go-betweens in Akil's case, in February, Akil scolded Chairun's lawyer, telling him to 'Just show the evidence, don't speak like that to me'. At that time, Akil stood as a witness for Chairun Nisa, who was sentenced to four years in prison in Akil's case.
Prior to the fight with Rachmat, Akil ran amuck at the KPK detention center after finding that a number of his family members who wanted to visit him were not allowed into the detention center during the Idul Fitri holiday.
A witness at the detention center confirmed that Akil had slammed a table in front of him to express his disappointment over the visitation rules. Some of Akil's relatives were not allowed to visit him because they had not registered at the KPK.
Separately, Rachmat's lawyer, Sugeng Teguh Santoso, confirmed the incident, saying 'the situation was tense at that time. Akil wanted to throw a chair [during the fight], but failed to do so.'
Sugeng further said that his client was not directly involved in the fight with the disgraced justice as Akil's anger was directed at detention center officers.
'That's why I was surprised to find that Pak Yasin also received disciplinary sanctions [due to the incident],' Sugeng added.
Akil's lawyer, Tamsil Sjoekoer, said his client was emotional at that time, but denied that Akil had gotten into fight with Rachmat.
Akil was found guilty of collecting around Rp 57 billion in bribes from 10 local election disputes, of which he attached a price of Rp 500 million to Rp 20 billion. He also laundered a total Rp 180 billion ' Rp 160 billion during his term at the court and Rp 20 billion when he was serving as a member of the House of Representatives representing the Golkar Party.
After prosecutors sought a life sentence for him in June, Akil accused KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto of having consulted with him over the West Waringin local election dispute being tried at the court. However, he did not elaborate on his accusation against Bambang.
Akil also lambasted KPK leaders for speaking publicly about the life sentence demand for him prior to his trial, urging the antigraft body to set up an ethics council to investigate what he called a breach of ethics.
