Jail terms sought for ex-Embassy officials

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 05/22/2008 11:23 AM | Headlines

Prosecutors demanded Wednesday 2.5 years in prison for former National Police chief Rusdihardjo for allegedly collecting illegal immigration fees while serving as Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia.

They also requested the Corruption Court jail Arihken Tarigan, former immigration head at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, for three years in the same case.

The prosecutors, led by I Kadek Idayana, said the court should also order Rusdihardjo to pay Rp 2.2 billion (US$237,600) and Arihken Rp 10.7 billion in restitution for state losses.

Should Rusdihardjo and Arih-ken fail to pay, they should be sentenced to an additional two and three years in jail, respectively, Kadek said.

The court, he added, should also fine the two defendants Rp 200 million each or impose an additional six-month jail term in the event they fail to pay.

Prosecutors said the defendants violated a 1999 law on corrup-tion by abusing their powers and causing financial losses to the state.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion.

"The defendants were aware of the immigration fees manipulation," said Kadek.

Rusdihardjo allegedly accepted between RM 30,000 ($9375) and RM 40,000 in illegal immigration fees per month from Arihken between 2004 and 2006.

In the previous court hearing, Arihken admitted to also having given around RM 10,000 to RM 15,000 to the deputy ambassador, adding that other embassy staffers also received part of the corruption money each month.

Arihken said the embassy had also manipulated the fees during the time of Rusdihardjo's predecessor, Hadi A. Warayabi.

The Corruption Court found Hadi guilty of embezzling RM 6.09 million between 2000 and 2003 and imprisoned him for 2.5 years.

The Indonesian Embassy had implemented two different ambassador decrees under the same registration number related to immigration fees since 1999. One stipulated a higher fee.

The embassy officials then submitted income statements to the state based on the lower immigration fee, charged the higher fee and embezzled the difference.

Both Rusdihardjo and Arihken have pleaded innocence in the case.

The judges adjourned the trial until next Wednesday to hear defense pleas from the defendants and/or their lawyers. (dre)

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