Bandung Judge Jailed 12 Years for Bribery

The Jakarta Globe, December 17, 2013.


Bandung. The Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday sentenced former Bandung District Court judge Setyabudi Tedjocahyono to 12 years in jail for taking bribes from officials who were on trial for corruption.

“[The court] sentences the defendant to a term of 12 years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 200 million [$16,000],” presiding judge Nurhakim said, as quoted by state-run Antara news agency.

If Setyabudi fails to pay the fine, he would have to spend an extra three months in jail.

The sentence is lighter than the 16 years imprisonment and Rp 400 million fine, or an additional year in jail, prosecutors demanded.

Nurhakim said Setyabudi was found guilty of corruption and of supporting corruption. He said an aggravating factor was Setyabudi’s position as an officer of the court, who is expected to uphold the law.

“The mitigating factors are that the defendant admitted his wrongdoing, showed remorse, has a clean record, and the fact that he was respectful during the trial,” Nurhakim said.

Both Setyabudi and the prosecutor for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said they would consider the ruling before deciding whether to file an appeal.

Setyabudi last December convicted seven officials — involved in bribing him — of embezzling some $7 million in social aid funds from the city budget.

Each only received a year in prison and a Rp 50 million fine, while p rosecutors in the case had demanded a three- to four-year prison term for each defendant.

The case also implicated Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada of having ordered the judge to be bribed in exchange for going easy on the sentencing and quashing any testimony that could expose the mayor.

The antigraft agency arrested Setyabudi in August. KPK officers said they caught the judge in the act of accepting Rp 150 million from businessman Toto Hutagalung.

They found an additional Rp 350 million in a car that belonged to Toto’s employee.

The case goes back to 2011 when prosecutors began investigating the matter after the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) discovered irregularities in the city’s social aid programs.

The city had spent Rp 79.6 billion of the Rp 80 billion budget, but Bandung officials only presented the BPK with receipts that showed the money had been disbursed.

They were unable to produce proof of who the recipients were or what the money had been spent on.

City officials were also unable to show applications for social aid or records of social activities or projects assisted with the social aid funds, the BPK reported.

Dada repaid Rp 2.45 billion to the West Java prosecutor’s office in compensation while authorities investigated allegations of embezzlement. The prosecutors’ office said while it was appreciated, the money Dada had paid was still far less than what the city had lost.



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