Jakarta Globe, Jun 30, 2014
Jakarta. Akil Mochtar’s disgrace was complete late on Monday night after the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court to life in prison. Akil was found guilty of having sold off Indonesia’s powerful local government seats to corrupt politicians.
The former chief justice of Constitutional Court Akil Mochtar was jailed on June 30 after being found guilty of selling election disputes to the highest bidder. (EPA Photo/Maliq) |
Jakarta. Akil Mochtar’s disgrace was complete late on Monday night after the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court to life in prison. Akil was found guilty of having sold off Indonesia’s powerful local government seats to corrupt politicians.
“The
defendant has been proved guilty beyond doubt of corruption,” the presiding
judge at the court said, reading out the verdict.
Akil was
also found guilty of corruption and money laundering during his term as the
chief of Constitutional Court between 2010 and 2013. He was arrested at his
house in October last year after Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
investigators arrived with a warrant for his arrest. The commission would later
say they had tapped his phone to confirm longstanding suspicions that he was
taking bribes to issue favorable verdicts in election disputes.
The
Constitutional Court is the highest authority in the country in such disputes.
Its decisions are binding and complainants have no further recourse once it has
ruled. Lawyer Susi Tur Andayani and businessman Tubagus Chaeri Wardana, better
known as Wawan, were also brought in by investigators on graft charges. Wawan
was caught red-handed, trying to bribe Akil to rule in favor of candidates
loyal to his family in the Lebak district of Banten.
It was not
long before the case widened to take in Wawan’s sister, the governor of Banten province, Ratu Atut
Chosiyah, a matriarch whose vice-like grip on the province’s finances allegedly
extended to rigging just about every public contract for the province — which
lies contiguous to both Jakarta and West Java — but did not include working to
improve the down-at-heel province’s education system or better the lot of its
citizens.
Indonesia’s
highly decentralized political framework confers vast budgets and significant
powers on provincial and district chiefs.
“The
defendant has ruined public trust in the Constitutional Court, and it will take
quite some time to revive it,” KPK prosecutor Pulung previously said in court,
while Indonesia Corruption Watch said at the time of Akil’s arrest that the
case was “a disaster for law enforcement in Indonesia.” ICW went on to accuse
Atut of conducting graft on an industrial scale in Banten — again and again
awarding tenders to companies owned by her and her family.
Several
other cases against Akil have since come to light — including district seats in
Central Kalimantan and the mayoralty of Palembang — and the disgraced former
judge may face further charges as investigators work their way through a
backlog of similar complaints.
Akil — who
recently conceded he was “no angel” — was defiant prior to the ruling,
insisting he would file an appeal “to heaven” if necessary.
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The Constitutional Court, once seen as squeaky clean, has been rocked
by the arrest of its chief justice, Akil Mochtar, for bribery. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)
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