Denpasar.
The Denpasar District Court on Friday sentenced the king of Bali’s Denpasar monarchy
to two years in jail in a fraud case surrounding the sale of a plot of land
belonging to the royal family.
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| Denpasar King Ida Tjokorda Ngurah Jambe Pemecutan IX |
The
Denpasar monarch, known locally as Puri Satria, is one of the traditional
monarchs that still exists on Bali, Indonesia’s most popular tourist
destination, although most of them only play symbolic roles and do not rule
administratively.
“The
defendant [Samirana] convinced the victim that he was the one who had the right
to sell the land,” chief judge Tony Hutauruk said as he read out the verdict.
Tony added
that Samirana had abused Article 378 of the Criminal Code on crimes of
deception.
The trial
revealed that the case began in 2006, when victim Lely Sri Mawarni intended to
purchase 10 hectares of land on Jalan Badak Agung in Denpasar. The land was
known to be an asset of Puri Satria.
Samirana
offered the land at Rp 75 million ($8,025) per are (1 hectare = 100 are), and
Lely agreed to purchase the 10 hectare-land at Rp 15 billion, with payment to
be made in three installments.
She had
already paid Rp 7.6 billion when she asked for an original certificate of the
land from Samirana, but the king was unable to show it.
Instead, in
November 2006, Lely received a letter from Puri Satria, not the king, informing
her that the land was not for sale, that it belonged to the monarchy and could
not be handed over to someone else.
Lely said
she had complained about the issue to Samirana, but he insisted he had a right
to sell the land because he was the king.
Lely then
reported Samirana to the Bali Police in January 2009.
Responding
to the verdict on Friday, Samirana’s lawyer I Gusti Ngurah Made Arya said his
client would file an appeal.
“There was
no intention to deceive at all... The defendant has planned to return the
money,” Arya said.
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