Judge Free Sentence 5 Defendant Of Light Light Corruption. Jalan Lhokseumawe

The panel of judges acquitted five defendants of corruption in the public street lighting tax (PPJ) in the Lhokseumawe City Government, Aceh.

The acquittal was read out by the panel of judges chaired by Teuku Syarafi and accompanied by R Deddy Haryanto and Heri Alfian each as member judges during a trial at the Corruption Court at the Banda Aceh District Court in Banda Aceh, Wednesday, August 7.

The five defendants are Mawardi Yusuf as Head of the Regional Financial Management Agency (BPKD) of Lhokseumawe City 2020-2022. The defendant Azwar as Head of the Lhokseumawe City BPKD 2018-2020.

Then the defendant Asriana as the Head of the Lhokseumawe City BPKD Financial Subdivision, Sulaiman as the Treasurer of the Lhokseumawe City BPKD Expenditure, and the defendant M Dahri as the Budget User Authority for the Lhokseumawe City BPKD.

"Declaring that the defendants are not proven to have committed a criminal act of corruption as charged by the public prosecutor. Free the defendants from all charges and demands of the public prosecutor," said the panel of judges.

In its decision, the panel of judges ordered the defendants to be released from detention and rehabilitate the names and restore the rights of the defendants. Including restoring the dignity and dignity of the defendants.

In addition, the panel of judges also ordered the public prosecutor (JPU) to return the more than Rp706.5 million that was previously confiscated to each party. As well as return all the evidence to its previous place.

Based on legal facts during the trial, said the panel of judges, there was no evidence that the defendants committed a criminal act of corruption in paying incentives from collecting road lighting tax.

"What the defendants did was based on the capacity and authority of the position they held," said the panel of judges.

Based on the judge's decision, Public Prosecutor Ully Herman expressed his thoughts. The panel of judges gave seven days to determine whether to accept or not the decision.

Before, the Public Prosecutor demanded four of the five defendants in the criminal act of corruption in the street lighting tax of eight years each. Meanwhile, one other defendant on behalf of Sulaiman was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In addition to imprisonment, the prosecutor also demanded that the defendants pay a fine of Rp. 200 million, subsidiary to six months in prison. As well as paying compensation for state losses of Rp. 631 million each. If the defendant does not pay, he will be sentenced to four years in prison each.

The prosecutor also demanded that the defendants Mawardi Yusuf, Azwar, and Sulaiman be deprived of political rights for five years.

In his indictment, the Public Prosecutor stated that the defendants were found guilty of violating Article 2 in conjunction with Article 18 paragraph (1) letters a, b, d paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning criminal acts of corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) 1 in conjunction with Article 64 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

Previously, the prosecutor in his indictment stated that the defendants distributed and received a sum of money from the intensive collection of street lighting taxes carried out by PLN.

"The street light tax collection was carried out by PLN, so that the defendants were not entitled to receive intensive receipt from the tax collection for street lighting," said the public prosecutor.

The public prosecutor said that PLN in the 2018 to 2022 period deposited a road lighting tax to the Lhokseumawe City BPKD with a total of more than Rp72 billion.

"The money from the street lighting tax collected by PLN should have been deposited into the regional treasury as the original regional income. However, the defendants made a policy by distributing it as an intensive collection," said the prosecutor.

"The actions of the defendants resulted in state financial losses based on the results of the calculation of state audit institutions reaching Rp3.15 billion," said the Public Prosecutor.