Former Deputy Chairperson Of The East Java DPRD Sahat Tua Simanjuntak Sued 12 Years In Prison

The trial of the defendant Sahat Simanjuntak at the Surabaya Corruption District Court in Sidoarjo, Friday (8/9/2023). ANTARA/HO-SAR

SIDOARJO - Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has demanded the former Deputy Chairman of the East Java DPRD, Sahat Tua, P Simanjuntak, with a sentence of 12 years in prison.

In addition to the prison sentence, the political rights of Sahat Tua P Simanjuntak were revoked for five years after serving a sentence.

"The defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison minus his prison term during the trial," said KPK Prosecutor Arif Suharmanto in the Cakra room of the Corruption Court (Tipikor) at the Surabaya District Court, Friday, September 8.

In the indictment, Sahat is believed by the prosecutor to have violated Article 12 a in conjunction with Article 18 of the Corruption Eradication Law.

Before dropping the charges, the Prosecutor considered aggravating and mitigating matters. The aggravating thing is that the defendant does not support the government in the government, is free from corruption and eradicates corruption and the defendant has not returned the money that was corrupted.

"Meanwhile, the mitigating factors for the defendant have never been convicted before and have family responsibilities that must be supported," said Public Prosecutor Arif Suhermanto.

In addition, the defendant is obliged to pay compensation of Rp. 39.5 billion no later than one month after the decision has permanent legal force.

"If you cannot pay the replacement money, then your property will be confiscated by the state and auctioned off to cover the replacement money, if you are unable to pay, it will be replaced with imprisonment for six years," he said.

After the lawsuit, the defendant Sahat Tua P Simanjuntak or the defendant's attorney did not comment.

"Based on the evidence, it was proven that the defendant Sahat received Rp39.5 billion through Rusdi," he said.

Sahat Tua Simanjuntak was caught in the KPK's arrest operation (OTT) in December 2022. Sahat with his subordinates Rusdi and Muhammad Chozin (deceased), accepted bribes from Abdul Hamid and Ilham Wahyudi alias Eeng.

Sahat received the bribe in exchange for smoothing the disbursement of grant funds from community groups (Pokmas). Throughout 2020 to 2023, around Rp200 billion of grant funds were successfully disbursed by him.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hamid and Ilham Wahyudi have now been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Both received a fairly light verdict because of their status as justice collaborators.