T

he first trial hearing of former Democratic Party cofounder Sutan Bhatoegana on Thursday revealed how the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry under former minister Jero Wacik extorted the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) to bribe lawmakers of the House of Representatives'€™ Commission VII overseeing energy.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors at the Jakarta Corruption Court indicted Sutan for receiving billions of rupiah in bribes related to his then position as House Commission VII chairman, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison as indicated in Article 12 of Law No. 20/2001 on corruption.

Prosecutor Dody Sukmono claimed Sutan had received US$140,000 from the then ministry secretary-general Waryono Karno. Waryono got the money from SKKMigas as repayment for approving the allocation of funds for electricity and gas subsidies, which were earlier proposed by the government when the House deliberated the ministry'€™s budget in 2013.

'€œEach of the seven Commission VII leaders received $7,500, while each of the 43 members received $2,500 and as much as $2,500 was also given to the commission'€™s secretariat office. The total was $140,000,'€ Doddy said when reading the indictment.

The money was given to Sutan in May 2013.

The indictment reveals that Sutan actively asked for money from Waryono and that they met in a hotel in Jakarta to discuss the scheme and the deliberation of the ministry'€™s budget, during which Sutan convinced Waryono he would guide the budget deliberation at the House.

In order to get the money, Waryono asked for '€œhelp'€ from the then SKKMigas chief Rudi Rubiandini, who later instructed his subordinate Hardiono to deliver money to Waryono, who gave the money to Sutan'€™s staffer Irianto Muchyi.

Additionally, KPK prosecutors charged Sutan for receiving $200,000 in holiday bonuses for House Commission VII members ahead of the 2013 Idul Fitri celebration.

'€œAt that time the defendant asked for more money by saying to Rudi Rubiandini that $200,000 was not enough for all 54 commission members,'€ prosecutors said.

The bribe money was just a small part of the millions of dollars that Rudi had received from a number of oil and gas companies, including Singapore-based oil firm Kernel Oil Pte Ltd., in 2013.

Rudi said he did not have any other choice but to accept money because he had to supply the demand for money from '€œother parties'€, including the House and the energy ministry. Rudi has been sentenced to seven years for receiving bribes when serving as SKKMigas chief.

Sutan'€™s indictment also suggests that former energy minister Jero, who is also a senior Democratic Party politician, had funneled Rp 50 million in '€œgratuities'€ from the ministry for Sutan'€™s position as House Commission VII chairman.

Sutan'€™s first trial hearing also highlighted the gifts he received from other parties, including a Toyota Alphard van from Yan Achmad Suep, who is the director of oil and gas company PT Dara Trasindo Eltra, as well as a 1,194 square meter plot of land and a house in Medan from businessman Saleh Abdul Malik, who owns PT Sam Mitra Mandiri.

Sutan was supposed to serve as House lawmaker until October 2014, but he was forced to resign from the post in June after being named a graft suspect by the KPK.

Responding to his indictment Sutan said he did not understand where '€œall the allegations were coming from'€.

'€œI am innocent. This is like a movie in which I was forced to become the main actor but in fact I am not the director. Let'€™s see how the trial will go to reveal the real director behind it. I hope that the panel of judges will clearly see my role in this case,'€ Sutan said during the hearing.