T

he Bandung Corruption Court found Bogor Deputy Mayor Ahmad innocent of embezzling from the city’s 2002 budget of Rp 6.8 billion (US$795,000) from the city’s 2002 budget.

It was the second acquittal by the Bandung Graft Court against a regional head. On Aug. 22, the court acquitted Subang Regent Eep Hidayat of a sentence request of up to eight years in prison for his alleged involvement in graft of Rp 14 billion in property tax funds over 2005–2008.

Thursday’s verdict made Ahmad — who was tried in his capacity as former Bogor Legislative Council deputy speaker (1999–2004) — luckier than the 32 former Bogor councilor who were each sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay Rp 50 million in fines last year.

Ahmad, who is also a member of the Prosperous Justice Party, prostrated in thanksgiving in the courtroom after the trial was closed by presiding judge Joko Siswanto. “Free” and “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) were said by dozens of Ahmad’s family members, supporters and legal team, overjoyed by the acquittal of the charges and the requested four-year prison sentence.

The judges said in the verdict that they could not prove either the primary or secondary charges under Article 2 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law on Corruption Eradication and under paragraph 1 of Article 55 of the Criminal Code.

“From the facts presented at the trial, the defendant acted only as a user of the budget, while the responsibility of the finance management was on the hands of the council secretary. The defendant spent the money in line with the amount he received,” the judges said.

In the previous trial at the Bogor District Court, the 32 convicted Bogor councilors were proven guilty of misusing Rp 1.3 billion in budget funds for private interests.

In a separate proceeding, public prosecutors asked the Bandung Corruption Court to sentence Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohamad to 12 years in jail and to pay fines of up to Rp 300 million for his involvement in four graft cases.

The four cases included an alleged bribe to a selection team for the Adipura city cleanliness award and the provision of a fee of 2 percent out of the total city budget of over Rp 1.6 trillion to Bekasi councilors to help speed up approval for the 2010 Bekasi budget.