Indonesia’s former social affairs minister sentenced to 12 years in prison

Indonesia’s former social affairs minister has been handed a 12 year prison term due to a multi-million dollar Covid graft scandal. The Jakarta Corruption Court made its ruling today.

An unnamed judge says the former minister, Juliari Batubara, was “convincingly guilty of corruption” following Juliari’s acceptance of 32.4 billion rupiahs in payoffs related to the obtainment of goods meant for Covid social assistance packages.

The JCC found that Juliari had inserted himself in the tender process. And, on top of the prison term, they gave him a 500 million rupiah fine. Juliari also has to reimburse the 14.5 billion rupiahs in embezzled funds the politician used for personal expenses. Judges from the JCC say Juliari is also banned from public office for 4 years after finishing his prison bid.

The convicted politician has protested his innocence. His lawyer, Maqdir Ismail, calls the sentence “harsh” and says they are mulling an appeal.

Juliari, and 4 others, were named as suspects in the case last December by Indonesia’s anti-graft commission. Then, the day before Juliairi surrendered to authorities, anti-corruption officials found over US$1 million dollars jammed into suitcases and other objects.

SOURCE:Reuters