An Indonesian anti-corruption court sentenced the ruling Democratic Party’s former treasurer yesterday to almost five years’ jail in a case that has caused embarrassment for the Indonesian president’s party.
Muhammad Nazaruddin was convicted of taking 4.6 billion rupiah (US$501,400) to award the company Duta Graha Indah a contract to build an athlete’s village for the regional Southeast Asian Games last year.
“The defendant was convincingly proven guilty of committing criminal activities under the corruption law,” judge Darmawati Ningsih told the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court. “The court sentences him to four years and 10 months in prison, and fines him 200 million rupiah, which can be substituted with another four months prison.”
Photo: Reuters
The judge said Nazaruddin had “tainted the image of the government, which is trying to combat corruption.”
The former politician told the court he would think about whether to appeal.
Prosecutors had sought a seven-year sentence for the former treasurer, who fled the country in May last year when investigators linked him to the rigged tender and was extradited from Colombia with the help of Interpol in August.
Nazaruddin could cause political turmoil for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, claiming since the trial began in late November last year that several party members are involved in scandals worth millions of US dollars.
He has named party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, both of whom have expressed presidential aspirations for 2014.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS