Former N. Sumatran District Chief Jailed in Akil Bribery Case

Jakarta Globe, Erwin Sihombing, May 11, 2015

Raja Bonaran Situmeang becomes the latest regional official to be convicted
of bribing Akil Mochtar, once Indonesia’s top judge, in exchange for a favorable
ruling in an election dispute. (Antara Photo/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

Jakarta. An Indonesian court on Monday sentenced a former North Sumatra district chief to four years in prison for bribing the country’s top judge in exchange for a favorable ruling in an election dispute.

Judge Muchammad Muchlis of the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court also fined Raja Bonaran Situmeang, the former head of Central Tapanuli district, Rp 200 million ($15,200) after finding him guilty of paying Rp 1.8 billion in bribes to Akil Mochtar, then the chief justice of the Constitutional Court, to rule in his favor in a dispute arising from the 2012 district election.

The sentence and fine were lower than the six years and Rp 300 million sought by prosecutors. Both sides said they would study the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

Bonaran becomes the latest regional official to be jailed in the wake of the Akil scandal. The judge himself was convicted in June last year of taking bribes in connection with more than a dozen regional election disputes, and handed an unprecedented life sentence by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court — the stiffest sentence ever given in a graft case in Indonesia.

Others jailed in the same case include Ratu Atut Chosiyah, the former governor of Banten province, and Romi Herton, the former mayor of Palembang in South Sumatra, as well as a host of fixers and lawyers.