Suspended Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) head and judge Tripeni Irianto Putra, who stands accused of accepting bribes at his office in July, appealed to the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday to hand down a lenient sentence for his alleged offenses
uspended Medan State Administrative Court (PTUN) head and judge Tripeni Irianto Putra, who stands accused of accepting bribes at his office in July, appealed to the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday to hand down a lenient sentence for his alleged offenses.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) allegedly caught Tripeni at his office accepting US$15,000 and S$5,000 from Yagari Bhastara Guntur, a lawyer from the law firm of OC Kaligis, just days after the PTUN handed down a favorable ruling for Kaligis' client, currently suspended North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho.
In his defense statement, Tripeni admitted to accepting money from Kaligis with regard to a ruling he made in July. He also admitted that he had accepted cash several times from Kaligis before his July arrest.
'After a consultation meeting with Kaligis, he left an envelope that I had not asked for. I was forced by Kaligis to take it and I finally did. I wanted to reject it but I didn't want to make him uncomfortable by doing so,' Tripeni said.
After confessing his wrongdoings, Tripeni told the judges that he had no intention of demanding money from Kaligis with regard to the ruling. He also said that at the time of the arrest, he had not used all money that Kaligis had given.
He reasoned that he could have spent all the money he accepted prior to the arrest should he have had the intention of demanding bribes from Kaligis, adding that he wanted to return all the money to Kaligis.
Last week, KPK prosecutors demanded four years' imprisonment for Tripeni's alleged offenses in the case.
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