he Jakarta High Court handed down on Thursday a heavier sentence on businessman Andi Agustinus, also known as Andi Narogong, and declared him as the main perpetrator in the e-ID graft case.
The verdict implies that Andi cannot become a justice collaborator as expected by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
"[The judges] consider that the defendant can't be separated from his dominant role in the budgeting and execution of the e-ID project despite his status as a justice collaborator," stated the written verdict published on the official website of the Supreme Court.
The panel of judges increased the prison term for Andi to 11 years and fined him Rp 1 billion (US$72,500). He was previously sentenced to eight years in prison by the Jakarta Corruption Court. Andi was declared guilty of conspiring with numerous parties in the deliberation of the e-ID project in the House of Representatives.
He was accused of persuading graft convict Setya Novanto, then a member of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, to help him gain lawmakers' approval for the Rp 5.9 trillion budget to procure e-ID cards.
KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said the antigraft body was surprised that the Jakarta High Court had annulled Andi's status as a justice collaborator, as the Jakarta Corruption Court had considered that Andi had admitted his crime and contributed to the investigation by revealing the roles of other parties.
The KPK emphasized that Andi was not the main perpetrator in the case.
"We're quite surprised to find that the panel of judges [at the Jakarta High Court] annulled Andi's justice collaborator status. We really regret the decision, yet we still respect the verdict," Febri said. (ebf)
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