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Suspended Cirebon regent gets five years, has political rights revoked
The panel of judges also revoked Sunjaya’s political right to run for office and ordered him to pay Rp 500 million in fines.
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Inactive Cirebon regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra. (Kompas TV/-)
T
he Bandung Corruption Court in West Java sentenced on Wednesday inactive Cirebon regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra to five years in prison after he was convicted in a bribery case.
The panel of judges also revoked Sunjaya’s political right to run for office and ordered him to pay Rp 500 million (US$34,443) in fines.
"The defendant's right to be elected is revoked for five years from after he completes his sentence," presiding judge Fuad Muhammadi said.
The sentence was lighter than the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors' demand for seven years' imprisonment and Rp 400 million in fines.
Sunjaya, who had been inaugurated for his second term before being suspended for the graft case, was found guilty of receiving sums of between Rp 25 million and Rp 100 million from top officials that he had promoted in his administration.
The judges also revealed that Sunjaya had collected monthly fees from at least 40 district heads in Cirebon, with each head paying Rp 1 million per month.
Sunjaya said that he would accept the verdict, while the KPK prosecutors said they were still considering whether to accept the sentence or file an appeal.
KPK prosecutor Iskandar Marwanto said Sunjaya would face a separate trial in another bribery case, in which he allegedly received Rp 6.5 billion from the Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) for granting land for the construction of a coal-fired power plant known as PLTU Cirebon-2.
"We have received an instruction to start the investigation into other cases. We will review the evidence first before filing charges," Iskandar said.
Last week, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil inaugurated Sunjaya as the Cirebon regent for his second term. But after 10 minutes, Ridwan suspended Sunjaya from his position, citing his defendant status, and appointed Dicky Saromi as acting regent.
