T

he South Jakarta District Court handed down a prison sentence of one year and four months to 30-year-old Robby Abbas on Monday after finding him guilty of employing women as sex workers, many of whom were reportedly actresses and models.

Presiding judge Effendi Mochtar said the judges had found that Robby was guilty as charged of violating Article 296 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on the procurement of prostitutes.

'€œThe defendant provided sex workers for his clients and made it his source of income. We agree with the state prosecutor in this case,'€ Effendi said.

The prison term was in line with what prosecutors had demanded in their indictment.

Effendi said that based on the facts revealed during the trial, Robby employed Amel Alvi, Tyas Mirasih and Shinta Bachir as high-end sex workers during his three-year profession as a pimp.

He added that Robby'€™s role as an active middleman was proven by the fact that he rented the hotel rooms for his clients and the sex workers under his own name, as well as providing condoms for them.

During the trial, it was revealed that for Amel'€™s services Robby charged Rp 80 million (US$5,864), of which Rp 20 million was paid to the magazine photo model.

'€œThe defendant introduced Amel to the client and soon after the client agreed, the accused asked for Rp 7 million as a down payment from the total fee of Rp 80 million,'€ Effendi continued.

Robby was caught red-handed on May 8 in the lobby of a five-star hotel in South Jakarta while waiting for Amel, 22, who was still in the hotel room with the client.

During the arrest, police also seized cash amounting to Rp 45 million, a laptop and a handbag.

At the police station, Robby told the police that he had a list over 200 sex workers, half of whom were allegedly celebrities who charged rates of between Rp 80 million and Rp 200 million.

However, only three of the 200 sex workers were named in the indictment.

While Amel models for glamor magazines, Shinta and Tyas have mostly starred in B-movies, Tyas is regarded as the better-known actress of the pair.

Soon after the arrest, there were public demands for the police to prosecute Amel, who was also caught red-handed, as well as to follow up on Robby'€™s claim about public officials who were clients of his procurement service.

However, these demands came to nothing as Robby was the only party brought to trial in the case.

During Monday'€™s hearing, Effendi said the judges had found no mitigating factor in Robby'€™s offenses as his actions '€œhad stirred unrest in society'€ and emphasized that his crimes were '€œnot in line with the Indonesian religious morality'€.

Robby'€™s lawyer Pieter Ell said after the trial that he would need time to discuss with his client whether they would challenge the verdict in the Jakarta High Court.

'€œI have seven days to consider whether we will file an appeal or not. I will use it to talk with Robby,'€ he said.