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orruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors have called on Jakarta Corruption Court judges to sentence former NasDem party secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella to two years for receiving bribes from a governor in May.

The sentence demand is lower than the maximum five years that prosecutors can call for in a graft case where officials are accused of receiving bribes, as regulated by article 11 of Law No.30/1999 on corruption.

The antigraft body has charged Rio, a former member of the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, with corruption after collecting strong evidence that he received Rp 200 million from suspended North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho to halt a graft case implicating the governor at the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO), which is led by former Nasdem politician Muhammad Prasetyo.

In other trial hearings, the KPK has always demanded the maximum sentence to anticipate the possibility that judges only approve half of what they demand.

KPK prosecutor Yudi Kristiana said that Rio deserved leniency in the case because he had shown remorse during the trial and returned the bribe money to the KPK during the investigation period, adding that Rio had also cooperated with investigators to solve the case.

'€œThe defendant has also requested to become a justice collaborator,'€ Yudi said while reading the sentence demand in court on Monday.

KPK prosecutors, however, failed to provide details about the justice collaborator request, a legal tool that can be applied by defendants or suspects where they reveal the identity of other '€œbig fish'€ in a corruption case.

The case earlier implicated Attorney General M. Prasetyo, the AGO'€™s director of investigations Maruli Hutagalung and NasDem party chairman Surya Paloh, the owner of the Media group that runs MetroTV and Media Indonesia. All of them have denied any role in the case.

In addition to the lenient sentence, KPK prosecutor Budi Sarumpaet said that the antigraft body had also asked judges to order Rio to pay Rp 50 milion in fines.

If the NasDem politician failed to pay the fine, he would have to serve another one month behind bars.

'€œThe defendant intended to receive the money from Evi Susanti [Gatot'€™s wife] through Francisca Insani Rahesti,'€ Budi said.

Francisca is a friend of Rio who helped him get the money from the governor.

Budi said that Gatot asked Rio to halt the case using his status as an active member of House Commission III overseeing law enforcement institutions including the AGO.

'€œThe defendant committed the offense with full awareness and understood that receiving money in his capacity as a state official was a violation of the law,'€ Budi added.

'€œTo me the demand is still heavy,'€ said Rio despite the leniency, adding that he would present his defense statement next week.