Medan District Court Judge Sentenced Former Member Of The North Sumatra Police Ditreskrimsus 5.5 Years

The panel of judges at the Medan District Court handed down a verdict to former members of Unit IV Sub-Directorate III/Tipikor Ditreskrimsus Regional Police

North Sumatra Brigadier Bayu Sahbenanta Perangin-angin (28) was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in connection with the extortion and bribery of the Physical Special Allocation Fund (DAK) project in 2024.

"The defendant Bayu Sahbenanta Warinangin is therefore sentenced to five years and six months (5.5 years) in prison," said Chief Judge Yusafrihardi Girsang at the Medan District Court, Monday, October 27.

Yusafrihardi said the defendant also paid a fine of Rp. 300 million on the condition that if the fine was not paid, it would be replaced with imprisonment for three months.

The defendant's actions are believed to have been proven to have violated Article 12 letter e of Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning the eradication of corruption in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) 1 of the Criminal Code.

The judge considered that the aggravating thing was the defendant's actions because it was contrary to the government's program in eradicating corruption. Then, the defendant who is a law enforcement officer should be an example for the community.

"The defendant's actions also hindered the facilities and infrastructure in the world of education," said Yusafrihardi.

Meanwhile, mitigating matters, he continued, the defendant had family responsibilities and was polite during the trial.

Upon the verdict, the panel of judges gave the defendant and the Public Prosecutor (JPU) seven days to state.

"The defendant and the public prosecutor were given seven days to state their position whether to appeal or accept this verdict," he said.

The judge's decision is known to be lighter than the demands of the Public Prosecutor's Team (JPU) of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which previously demanded that the defendant Bayu be sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of Rp. 300 million, subsidiary to four months in prison.

JPU Lina in the indictment explained that the defendant Bayu together with Kompol Ramli Sembiring as the former Head of Sub-Directorate III of Tipidkor Ditreskrimsus Polda North Sumatra (DPO), Topan Siregar (DPO), and Fan Solidarman Dachi (separate files), extorted a number of school principals receiving physical DAK 2024 in various districts/cities in North Sumatra.

"The defendants forced the principal to hand over the physical DAK self-management project to Typhoon Siregar or give a 'fee' of 20 percent of the total budget value," said prosecutor Lina.

According to the Public Prosecutor, the mode of extortion was carried out by making reports of false public complaints (dumas) related to allegations of corruption at the North Sumatra Education Office. This report was then used as the basis for officially summoning school principals.

After being present to fulfill the summons, the principals were forced to submit projects or cash.

During the process, the defendant Bayu was said to have received IDR 437.17 million directly from four school principals in South Nias and West Nias, while Ramli through Topan Siregar received IDR 4.32 billion from school principals in a number of areas, including Labuhanbatu, Samosir, and North Nias.

"The 2024 Physical DAK funds for North Sumatra based on Presidential Regulation Number 76 of 2023 reached IDR 171.13 billion, of which IDR 120.95 billion was allocated specifically for SMK," said Public Prosecutor Lina.