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Sentence too lenient for Ariesman's 'grand corruption': Coalition
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The Jakarta Corruption Court on Sept. 1 sentenced former president director of PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL) president Ariesman Widjaja, to three years in prison for bribery related to the Jakarta Bay reclamation project. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
T
he Save Jakarta Bay Coalition, comprising traditional fishermen, lawyers, scholars and activists who oppose the Jakarta Bay reclamation project, have voiced their dissatisfaction with the “very lenient sentence” handed down by the Corruption Court to PT Agung Podomoro Land's former president director, Ariesman Widjaja.
“The judges should have given him the maximum punishment allowed under Article 5 paragraph 1a, which says five years and a Rp 250 million fine because the corruption committed by Ariesman was grand corruption,” the coalition said in a statement made available on Friday.
The court sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of Rp 200 million (US$15,132) on Thursday.
The coalition said there were several reasons why Ariesman’s crime constituted grand corruption: First, it was made by a top executive of a large property company. Second, his aim was only to make profit for his corporation from the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.
The coalition, which includes the Coalition of Indonesian Traditional Fishermen (KNTI), said the other indicator of grand corruption was that the Rp 2 billion bribe from Ariesman to Jakarta city councilor Muhammad Sanusi was given to influence the deliberation process of bylaws on detailed zoning and spatial planning of Jakarta Bay reclamation and islands.
They also said the bylaws were problematic in the first place because they served as justification for a controversial project that had involved maladministration and poor governance because many permits were issued before the bylaws were passed.
Lastly, they said the bribe was given to legalize a reclamation project that had irreversibly destroyed the environment and livelihoods of the traditional fishermen. “This is a corporate crime that violates citizens’ Constitutional rights,” the coalition asserted. (evi)
