Sink Corruption Case, Former Aceh Education Office Chief Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

BANDA ACEH - The public prosecutor (JPU) from the Banda Aceh District Attorney's Office has charged the former Head of the Aceh Education Office (Kadisdik) Rachmat Fitri with a seven-year prison sentence for corruption in the procurement of wash basins or hand washing places in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The demands were read out by Public Prosecutor Sutrisna during a trial at the Corruption Court at the Banda Aceh District Court in Banda Aceh, Wednesday, November 13.

The trial was chaired by Zulfikar and accompanied by R Deddy Harryanto and M Jamil, each as member judges.

The defendant Rachmat Fitri served as Head of the Aceh Education Office in 2019-2020. The defendant attended the trial accompanied by his legal advisory team.

In addition to imprisonment, the Public Prosecutor also demanded that the defendant Rachmat Fitri pay a fine of IDR 500 million. If the defendant does not pay the fine, he will be sentenced to six months in prison.

The public prosecutor stated that the defendant Rachmat Fitri was proven legally and convincingly guilty of violating Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning the eradication of criminal acts of corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) point 1 of the Criminal Code.

Based on the facts at trial, said the public prosecutor, the defendant together with several other parties who were charged separately in the same case, together committed the crime of corruption in the procurement of washbasins with a budget of IDR 43.59 billion.

The washbasins were made in all high schools and vocational schools as well as special schools in Aceh. The procurement of the washbasins was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic. To carry out the work, the defendant involved 219 companies, said the public prosecutor.

As a budget user, the defendant divided the work of procuring the washbasins into 390 work packages. The division of work was to avoid tenders or auctions.

In addition, the defendant did not review the technical specifications and draft budget, resulting in an overpriced procurement of the handwashing place

"In the construction of the handwashing place, a discrepancy was found between the installed volume and the required volume, resulting in losses to state finances," said the public prosecutor.

The panel of judges continued the trial on November 20, 2024 with the agenda of hearing the plea or defense note of the defendant and his legal counsel.