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Anas Urbaningrum, Hambalang graft convict, to be released soon: Reports
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Anas Urbaningrum (left) and then-Golkar Party chairman and House speaker Setya Novanto sit as witnesses during a court proceeding in Jakarta in 2017 over a bribery case involving e-ID procurement. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
Former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum will reportedly be released from prison sometime this month after serving 8 years at Sukamiskin Prison in Bandung, West Java, for financial crimes related to the construction of a sports complex in the city.
I Gede Pasek, chairman of the Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN), and Haris Pertama, chairman of the National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI), told reporters that they would celebrate by picking Anas up from prison, along with activists and Anas’ supporters, projected to be in the hundreds. The PKN is a fledgling party making its electoral debut in 2024, and the KNPI was the youth wing of Golkar while it was the ruling party under the New Order regime.
Gede Pasek told reporters that his party had reserved a “strategic spot” for Anas, a former student activist, according to Sindonews.
Members of the Islamic Students Association (HMI), Islamic Students Association Alumni (KAHMI), Indonesia Network (JARI) and the Indonesian Movement Association (PPI) also confirmed they would attend the pickup.
Their support for Anas was unwavering, they said, and he remained their mentor and inspiration.
In 2014, Anas was found guilty of corruption and money laundering related to several state projects, including the construction of the Hambalang sports complex in Bogor, West Java. As restitution, the former Democratic Party chairman was made to pay Rp 57 billion (US$5.3 million).
In 2020, the Supreme Court reduced Anas’ sentence to eight years from 14 years after a case review. The Jakarta Corruption Court had initially sentenced Anas, who served as party chair from 2010 to 2013, to eight years in prison in 2014 for his involvement in the high-profile Hambalang Sports Complex graft case, a lighter sentence than the prosecutors’ demand of 15 years. The Supreme Court then increased the punishment to 14 years in June 2015 after an appeal.
