Surabaya – The legal counsel for the defendant, former Sidoarjo Regent Ahmad Muhdlor Ali (Gus Muhdlor), Mustofa Abidin, stated that they will submit a plea or objection to the prosecutor’s charges in the upcoming trial next week.
“We will submit a plea next week, just wait for it,” he said after the trial at the Surabaya Corruption Court, Monday (9/12/2024).
Subjectively, they have their own analysis of the legal facts revealed in the trial, which is certainly contrary to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Previously, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) charged the defendant, former Sidoarjo Regent Ahmad Muhdlor Ali (Gus Muhdlor), with 6 years and 4 months in prison for allegedly embezzling Rp 1.4 billion from the ASN BPPD Sidoarjo incentive fund.
In addition to the prison sentence, the KPK Prosecutor also demanded that the defendant pay a fine of Rp 300 million, with a subsidiary of 6 months in prison.
“The defendant, as we have charged, is proven guilty of committing a crime as per the first indictment.” The request for deductions or the receipt of money or the rights of BPPD employees,” said KPK Prosecutor, Andry Lesmana, before the panel of judges at the Surabaya Corruption Court (Tipikor), Monday (12/9/2024).
The prosecutor also requested that the defendant pay a replacement fee of IDR 1.4 billion. If the replacement fee is not paid, the defendant will be subjected to an additional sentence of 3 years in prison.
“With the proven request for the deduction of BPPD Sidoarjo employees’ incentives, the KPK Prosecutor’s Office requests the Panel of Judges to order the defendant to pay replacement money amounting to Rp 1.4 billion,” added Andry.
In the reading of the indictment, the Public Prosecutor stated that Ahmad Muhdlor met the elements of the first charge based on Article 12 letter f in conjunction with Article 16 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 20 of 2021 concerning amendments to the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 sub-paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 64 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.
Aggravating Factors
The prosecutor also outlined the factors that aggravated the charges. Ahmad Muhdlor is considered to have not supported the government’s efforts in combating corruption despite holding a regional official position.
In addition, the defendant was deemed to have provided convoluted testimony, making the trial proceedings difficult.
However, the prosecutor also considered mitigating factors for the defendant. “The defendant has never served a sentence in his life and has family dependents,” said Andry.
This is one of the reasons the prosecutor did not impose the maximum sentence. The trial, which lasted nearly 45 minutes, was presided over by a panel of judges led by Ni Putu Sri Indayani.
On that occasion, the panel of judges gave the defendant time to present a defense against the charges brought by the public prosecutor.
The panel of judges scheduled a follow-up hearing with the agenda of reading the defense or plea on Monday, December 16, 2024.
It is known that this case began with an OTT by the KPK at the BPPD Sidoarjo office on January 25. At that time, the KPK secured 11 people, including the former Head of BPPD Sidoarjo, Ari Suryono, and the former Subdivision Head of General Affairs and Personnel, Siska Wati.
Both have been sentenced by the judge to 5 years and 4 years in prison, respectively. They were proven to have cut the incentives of ASN BPPD Sidoarjo by 10 to 30 percent from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2023, totaling Rp 8.544 billion.
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