Prosecutors have claimed that former Constitutional Court justice Patrialis Akbar should face harsh punishments for further eroding public trust in the court by abusing his position as a judge to gain financial benefits.

Patrialis stands accused of accepting US$70,000 in bribes from businessman Basuki Hariman and his secretary, Ng Fenny, in connection with a request for a judicial review of the 2014 Farming and Animal Husbandry Law.

On Monday, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors demanded that the former National Mandate Party (PAN) politician be sentenced to 12.5 years in prison and fined Rp 500 million ($37,390), and required to return US$ 10,000 and Rp 4 million he obtained committing of his alleged crimes.

“We consider his position as a justice, and the fact that he damaged public faith in the court, as among the exacerbating factors,” prosecutor I Putra Setiawan told the bench.

He referred to the money Patrialis is alleged to have accepted from Kamaludin, a suspected middleman in the case, who told the court in earlier hearings that he had given 20 percent of the illicit money, amounting to $50,000, to Patrialis.

The former justice was also accused of asking for or, at least, knowing about the Rp 2 billion bribe from Basuki in exchange for a favorable ruling on the petition, which was alleged by Kamaludin in earlier hearings.

Patrialis has repeatedly denied knowing about the alleged bribes.

The former law and human rights minister became the second Constitutional Court justice to be implicated in a graft case after former chief justice Akil Mochtar was found guilty in a bribe case.

In 2014, The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Akil to life imprisonment as the judges found him guilty of accepting Rp 57 billion in bribes from a number of regional heads to influence decisions on election disputes during his tenure at the court. Akil’s sentence was one of the most severe ever handed down to a graft convict.

The Akil case was regarded by many as marking the nadir of the court’s reputation.

Arief Hidayat, current Constitutional Court chief justice, claimed in August that the court had fully restored its credibility, thanks to its success in settling disputes related to presidential and legislative election results in 2014. The arrest of Patrialis undid many of the efforts made by other justices to restore the court’s
image.

The Constitutional Court was established in 2003 with the job of safeguarding the 1945 Constitution and adjudicating in electoral disputes.

During the same trial on Monday, prosecutors also called on the judges punish Kamaludin with eight years behind bars and fine him Rp 250 million. They also demanded that he return $40,000 he received from Basuki.

During a hearing last week, Kamaludin admitted to accepting $50,000 from Basuki.

Basuki and Fenny were tried in separate trials. Last week, KPK prosecutors demanded 11 and 10 years of imprisonment for Basuki and Fenny, respectively.

The KPK named Patrialis a graft suspect after investigators arrested him in a raid in January, along with Basuki, Fenny and Kamaludin in separate locations.

Investigators confiscated $20,000 and S$200,000 ($146,840) from Patrialis, believed to be the bribe money he accepted from the businessman.

Monday’s hearing was adjourned until Aug. 21 to hear Patrialis’ and Kamaludin’s defense pleas. The court is also scheduled to hear the judges’ verdict on Basuki and Fenny on the same day. (kuk)

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