T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Tuesday it was optimistic that the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday would hand down a 15-year prison sentence to former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum as demanded by KPK prosecutors.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto called on the panel of judges '€œto hand down the most severe sentence possible for Anas'€™ corruption and money laundering offences'€.

'€œWe expect the judges to agree with KPK prosecutors that Anas is guilty of corruption and money laundering,'€ Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Unlike other graft suspects who admitted to wrongdoing, from the beginning of the KPK investigation in early 2012 until the last stage of his trial in early September, Anas has claimed to be '€œ100 percent innocent'€.

'€œIf I'€™m found guilty of receiving a single penny from [the] Hambalang [sports complex graft case], you can hang me from the top of Monas [the National Monument],'€ he declared.

Anas also accused the KPK of trumping up charges against him after receiving an '€œinstruction'€ from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who ousted him from the party chairmanship after Anas was named a graft suspect by the KPK in 2012.

The KPK'€™s Bambang denied Anas'€™ claim and said all evidence provided by KPK prosecutors in the sentence demand session last month had convincingly proven that he was guilty of corruption and money laundering.

To finance his political ambitions to become president, Anas allegedly joined graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin in developing the Permai Group to harbor slush funds collected from state projects, including the construction of the Hambalang sports complex.

Anas denies any connection to the Permai Group, but Bambang said Anas could not prove his argument.

'€œWe have evidence confirming that Anas bought shares from the Permai Group and that he received salaries and other facilities from the company. We also obtained BlackBerry messages confirming Anas'€™ presidential ambitions by buying the Rp 52 billion [public relations firm] Hotline Advertising. Becoming the Democratic Party chairman was his stepping stone to the presidency,'€ Bambang said.

Prosecutors labeled Anas'€™ corruption as '€œpolitical corruption'€, as all of the Rp 94 billion (US$7.9 million)and $5.2 million he had received in fees from a number of companies associated with him, including the Permai Group, was spent on funding his successful chairmanship campaign during the party'€™s congress in West Java in 2010.

In a move to conceal his illicit gains, prosecutors added, Anas spent some $1.3 million and Rp 700 million, the total amount left over from the congress, to buy three plots of land in East Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

'€œWe have also confirmed that the fingerprints on the purchase [of Permai'€™s] shares document were identical to those of Anas'€™, as confirmed by the National Police forensic laboratory,'€ Bambang said.

He went on that with the help of Anas in the latter'€™s position as a lawmaker during the 2009-2010 period, the Permai Group had secured Rp 1.1 trillion, the amount collected by the company in fees from a number of state projects.

The KPK charged Anas with Article 12 of the 1999 Corruption Law for his alleged corruption, while for his money laundering he was charged under Article 3 of the 2002 Money Laundering Law.

Collectively, both articles carry a maximum 20 years'€™ imprisonment or a life sentence for a graft suspect.

Anas said in one of his tweets on Tuesday that he expected the judges would seriously consider his defense.

'€œDue to [their] arrogance, [the KPK prosecutors] have turned a blind eye to evidence presented during the trial,'€ Anas said from his Twitter handle @anasurbaningrum.

He added that the KPK'€™s sentence demand was driven by hatred.

'€” JP/Haeril Halim