Top politician gets 15-year jail sentence
JAKARTA: An Indonesian court sentenced a senior politician to 15 years in prison for his role in the theft of US$170 million (5.3 billion baht) of public money, a victory for anti-corruption police fighting the country’s rampant graft.
Setya Novanto, the former speaker of parliament and former chairman of the Golkar party, sat impassively as the guilty verdict and sentence were announced yesterday at the Jakarta Corruption Court.
Asked by the five judge panel to respond, Mr Novanto, his voice trembling, said he would think about whether to accept the outcome or appeal.
The ruling said Mr Novanto enriched himself by abusing the authority and opportunities available to him because of his political position. “The defendant has consciously committed a criminal act of corruption,” chief judge Yanto, who uses one name, told the court.
Prosecutors said Mr Novanto was among about 80 officials and several companies who used the introduction of a $440 million electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012 to steal more than a third of the funds.
During the trial, Mr Novanto denied any wrongdoing while also using his knowledge of the conspiracy to accuse other senior politicians in an unsuccessful attempt to gain leniency as an informant.
Mr Novanto received about $7.4 million from his part in the conspiracy and he faces a further two years in prison if an auction of his assets doesn’t recoup that. He is banned from holding public office for five years following the end of his prison term.
Prosecutors had sought 16 years in prison. Mr Novanto’s months long efforts to elude questioning by the Corruption Eradication Commission disgusted and angered many in the country. In November, he was hospitalised after a car he was a passenger in collided with a power pole in an accident widely mocked online as another tactic to avoid arrest. He was arrested in the hospital after doctors who examined him said he was fit to stand trial.