The 7 And 9 Years Sentences Of Former Subs Of Juliari Batubara Are Appreciated By KPK

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) appreciates the verdict handed down by the Jakarta Corruption Court Panel of Judges against Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi Wahyono regarding the bribery case for the procurement of COVID-19 social assistance (bansos) in Greater Jakarta.

The subordinate of former Social Minister Juliari Peter Batubara received a higher verdict than the KPK Public Prosecutor (JPU) demanded.

"KPK appreciates the decision of the panel of judges in the social assistance bribery case at the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs in 2020 with the defendants Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi Wahyono who stated that the defendants were legally proven and convinced that they were guilty according to law," Acting KPK Spokesperson for Enforcement Affairs Ali Fikri told reporters, Thursday, September 2nd.

He said the panel of judges had accommodated all the descriptions of the juridical analysis of evidence in the demands of the KPK prosecutor.

"Similarly, regarding the imposition of imprisonment with the imposition of compensation payments on the defendant Matheus Joko Santoso," said Ali.

Even so, he said the KPK prosecutors needed time to decide whether to accept the verdict that had been handed down or to apply for the next legal action.

"The team of prosecutors is still thinking about the decision to give them time to fully and completely analyze the contents of the considerations of the judge's decision," he said.

Previously, Juliari Batubara's former subordinate, Matheus Joko Santoso, was sentenced to nine years in prison by the panel of judges at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday, September 1 yesterday. This sentence is more severe than that of his colleague, Adi Wahyono. In addition, Matheus was required to pay a replacement fee of IDR 1.56 billion.

This decision was rejected by the judge because Matheus was assessed along with Adi Wahyono and Juliari Peter Batubara for accepting bribes of Rp 32.48 billion. The money was given to Juliari in connection with the appointment of a number of vendors working on the COVID-19 social assistance project.

Even so, the judge granted the request of Matheus Joko Santoso and Adi Wahyono to become Justice Collaborators (JC) in the case.