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n an unprecedented move, the Jakarta High Court has rejected an appeal filed by former regent of Bangkalan, East Java, Fuad Amin and increased the 67-year-old'€™s prison sentence from eight to 13 years for corruption and money laundering.

The verdict was a departure from the court'€™s usual practice of reducing prison terms for graft convicts.

In the latest verdict, announced Tuesday, the court also decided to strip Fuad of his political rights, banning him from running for public office for five years after his release.

'€œA panel of judges at the court, chaired by Elang Prakoso Wibowo, believed that he deserved this sentence for his guilt of both corruption and money laundering,'€ Jakarta High Court spokesperson Muhammad Hatta told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The anti-corruption law carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for both corruption and money laundering collectively.

In their findings the panel of judges also ruled that Fuad had to pay a Rp 1 billion fine or serve an additional six months.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) praised the Jakarta High Court'€™s move, saying such a decision could provide a deterrent effect for others.

'€œWe also applaud the revocation of his political rights,'€ KPK spokesperson Yuyuk Indriati said on Tuesday.

Yuyuk, however, said that KPK prosecutors in charge of Fuad'€™s case would convene to decide if they would file a cassation plea to the Supreme Court because the verdict was lower than the 15-year sentence they had earlier sought.

On Oct. 19, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Fuad to eight years for his crimes despite the fact that KPK prosecutors managed to prove Fuad'€™s offences and demanded a 15-year prison term.

The KPK said the judges'€™ findings were rife with inconsistencies as they also ordered the KPK to return assets seized from Fuad worth billions of rupiah, despite their conclusion that the assets were the result of money laundering over the past 11 years.

The panel of judges also ordered Fuad to pay a Rp 1 billion fine for accepting Rp 197 billion in bribes from various sources during his decade-long tenure as Bangkalan regent.

The verdict found that Fuad was guilty of laundering the Rp 197 billion, but it failed to confirm whether assets controlled by Fuad were bought using the ill-gotten funds.

The Rp 197 billion includes a Rp 15.65 billion Fuad accepted from PT Media Karya Sentosa as a bribe for a multi-trillion rupiah gas contract he signed in 2007.

Fuad also collected a total of Rp 159 billion in cash by cutting 10 percent from the budget intended for the Bangkalan administration'€™s working units (SKPD).

Fuad, a Gerindra Party politician, also collected a total of Rp 20 billion from civil servants who wanted to attain strategic positions in local government agencies in Bangkalan between 2003 and 2010.