Sofyan Basir. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)
BY: HERU ANDRIYANTO, FANA SUPARMAN
JUNE 17, 2020
Jakarta The Supreme Court has actually declined an appeal by the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, and reinstated the acquittal of previous state electrical power business PLN president director Sofyan Basir over a graft scandal, a spokesperson stated on Wednesday.
Sofyan was acquitted by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court in November last year in a rare defeat for the reputable anti-graft firm.
The district attorneys required five years’ imprisonment for Sofyan over his alleged role in a graft scandal in a power plant task in Riau province including several politicians and businessmen, but the judges dismissed the indictment, citing lack of proof.
The KPK instantly lodged an interest the Supreme Court, who delivered its decision on Tuesday.
” The appeal by the prosecution group has actually been denied, due to the fact that according to the appeal judge panel, there was no breach of the law in the earlier decision by the Anti-Corruption Court,” Supreme Court spokesperson Andi Samsan Nganro said in Jakarta.
” The appeal judge panel has chosen all to decline the prosecutors’ appeal. The decision was delivered on Tuesday,” Andi said.
Previous Golkar Party secretary-general Idrus Marham and previous House of Representatives’ energy commission deputy chairwoman Eni Maulani Saragih have been sentenced to prison terms for accepting Rp 4.75 billion ($337,250) in graft cash to pave way for the Riau power plant job.
Johannes Budisutrisno Kotjo, a shareholder of Blackgold Natural Resources Ltd, was likewise condemned of paying off the politicians.
The KPK district attorneys have actually alleged that Sofyan assisted in the bribery scandal.
Unusual Defeat
Since its establishment in 2002, the KPK has actually lost in just three cases at the district court level, but it handled to turn things around in 2 of them at the Supreme Court.
In 2011, the KPK lost in a case against Bekasi district head Mochtar Mohammad however they managed to protect a guilty verdict at the Supreme Court.
They also initially lost to Rokan Hulu district head Suparman in another graft trial in 2017, only to earn triumph later on an appeal.
Sofyan is just the second accused to avoid conviction in a graft case brought forward by the KPK.
In July in 2015, the Supreme Court overturned a guilty verdict against Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung, the former head of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, or IBRA.
Syafruddin was earlier condemned by the Anti-Corruption Court and the Jakarta High Court for misusing his authority to release a letter of acquittal to significant debtor Sjamsul Nursalim in the consequences of the 1998 Asian monetary crisis. He had been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment before his acquittal.
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