Andi Mallarangeng divonis 4 tahun

(An English version of this story is available below.) 

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Andi Alfian Mallarangeng, mantan menteri pemuda dan olahraga dan juru bicara Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, divonis 4 tahun penjara, denda Rp 200 juta, dan subsider 2 bulan.
 
Andi terbelit kasus korupsi pembangunan proyek Pusat Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Sarana Olahraga Nasional Hambalang, Bogor.

Dalam sidang putusan pada Jumat, 18 Juli 2014, Andi dinyatakan terbukti melanggar Pasal 3 Undang-undang Nomor 31 tahun 1999 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Korupsi sebagaimana telah diubah dengan UU Nomor 20 tahun 2001 jo Pasal 55 ayat 1 ke (1) jo Pasal 65 ayat (1) KUHP.
 
Majelis hakim Pengadilan Tindak Pidana Korupsi dalam putusan menyebutkan hal yang memberatkan Andi adalah perbuatan yang dilakukan dinilai tidak mendukung upaya pemberantasan korupsi.
 
Adapun hal yang meringankan bagi Andi adalah belum pernah menjalani hukuman, berlaku sopan, belum sempat menikmati hasil korupsi, dan mendapatkan bintang penghargaan dari pemerintah semasa menjabat di Komisi Pemilihan Umum.
 
Andi menyatakan banding atas putusan majelis hakim. 

“Saya mengerti dengan putusan yang disampaikan majelis hakim. Tetapi itu itu tidak mewakili rasa keadilan saya, karena itu saya menyatakan untuk banding.”
 
Selama sidang pembacaan vonis, wajah Andi terlihat tegar dan masih tetap tersenyum. Namun anggota keluarga Andi yang ikut menyaksikan persidangan terlihat berurai air mata. – Rappler.com

English version:

Indonesia’s ex-sports minister is jailed in a $40 million graft case

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia’s former sports minister was jailed for 4 years on Friday, July 18, over a $40-million corruption case, the latest sentencing to have hit the popularity of the outgoing government.

Andi Mallarangeng, who had been considered an up-and-coming politician, accepted more than $700,000 in bribes to favor a particular bidder to construct a sports stadium on the main island of Java, according to prosecutors.

The stadium was supposed to be a first-class training center for Indonesian athletes but its construction was never completed after it became bogged down in corruption, with the loss to the state estimated at around $40 million, according to prosecutors.

At Friday’s hearing in a special anti-corruption court in the capital Jakarta, chief judge Haswandi said that Mallarangeng, who was sports and youth minister, had been proven guilty of corruption and abuse of power.

He received kickbacks through his brother, and was also found to have enriched other people and several companies in the corrupt scheme, said the judge, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

“His deeds was against the government program in eradicating the corruption, collusion and nepotism,” the judge said.

Mallarangeng was also ordered to pay a fine of 200 million rupiah ($17,000) or serve an extra two months in jail.

Yet the sentence was shorter than the 10 years demanded by prosecutors. Mallarangeng said he would file an appeal.

Mallarangeng, 51, is the latest in a string of senior figures from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party to become embroiled in graft scandals in one of the world’s most corrupt countries.

The treasurer and chairman from Yudhoyono’s party have both been linked to them, while the religion minister – who is from a different party – quit his post in May over corruption.

The flood of scandals contributed to a huge fall in support for the Democratic Party at legislative elections in April, when their support halved to around 10%.

Yudhoyono steps down in October after a decade in power.

Indonesia is ranked 114th out of 177 countries and territories in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. A number one ranking means the least corrupt. – Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com