Business Tycoon Sentenced to 32 Months

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Business tycoon Hartati Murdaya was found guilty of committing a corruption crime on Monday and sentenced to two years and eight months in jail and fined Rp150 million.

"Siti Hartati Murdaya was validly and convincingly proven guilty of committing a corruption crime along with others and repeatedly and was therefore sentenced to two years and eight months in jail," Gusrizal, the head of the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court, said.

The sentence was lighter than the prosecutors' demand for a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a fine of Rp250 million.

Gusrizal said the defendant had been proven giving or promising gifts to Buol District Head Amran Batalipu in exchange for his service which was beyond his duty. "According to judges (she has given) Rp1 billion through Arim and Yani and Rp2 billion through Yani and Gondo to Amran Batalipu," he said.

He said the money was given in exchange for recommendations for the issuance of land use rights for PT Citra Cakra Murdaya (CCM) which is under the same group of PT Hardaya Inti Plantation (HIP) for 4,500 hectares of land that have been developed and another 50,000 hectares of land.

"The defendant gave the money to the Buol district head for a recommendation for PT CCM which is under the same group of PT HIP that has received a land use right for 22,000 hectares of land to violate the regulation of the agrarian minister/head of land agency number 2 of 1999 setting the maximum land use right of 20,000 hecters of land," he said.

Upon hearing the verdict Hartati said she would think to consider whether or not she would appeal. "I would think about it," she said when the chief judge asked if she accepted the verdict.

Yani has earlier been sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined Rp50 million while Gondo to one year in jail and fined Rp50 million. (*/T007)