JAKARTA: Indonesia’s former parliament speaker was handed a 15-year prison term on Tuesday in one of the country’s harshest sentences for graft, marking a victory for its clamp-down on widespread corruption.
Setya Novanto, once among the country’s most influential politicians, had been accused of taking millions in kickbacks and bribes linked to the national roll-out of government ID cards.
“We have found defendant Setya Novanto, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty of violating anti-corruption law,” presiding Judge Yanto told the packed Jakarta courtroom. Novanto, who showed little reaction to the sentence, said he would “need time” to consider an appeal.
His months-long trial came after a string of manoeuvres — including allegedly faking an injury in a car crash — that critics say the 62-year-old used to dodge serious charges. Prosecutors had demanded a 16-year sentence.
Judge Yanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, also fined Novanto 500 million rupiah ($36,000), far less than the $7.4 million prosecutors had wanted him to pay as restitution to the state.
Novanto, who had managed to sidestep corruption allegations in the past, was accused of playing a key role in embezzlement from the $440 million ID card project, with some $170 million disappearing from state coffers. Several other politicians, government officials and businessmen have been charged in the scandal.
