Azis Syamsuddin Sued 4 Years 2 Months Jail

Azis Syamsuddin/PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Muhammad Azis Syamsuddin was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison plus a fine of IDR 250 million, subsidiary to 6 months in prison.

Azis Syamsuddin has been proven guilty of giving bribes worth Rp. 3.099 billion and US$36 thousand, bringing the total to around Rp.3.619 billion to former KPK investigator Stepanus Robin Pattuju and lawyer Maskur Husain.

"Demanding that the panel of judges at the Corruption Court (Tipikor) declare that the defendant Muhammad Azis Syamsuddin is proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption based on the first indictment. Sentencing the defendant with imprisonment for 4 years and 2 months and a fine of IDR 250 million subsidiary 6 months of confinement," said KPK Public Prosecutor (JPU) Lie Putra Setiawan at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) as reported by Antara, Monday, January 24.

The claim is based on the first indictment of Article 5 paragraph 1 letter a of Law No. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption.

"Issuing an additional penalty in the form of revocation of political rights to be elected in public office, starting 5 years after the defendant has finished serving his main sentence," added prosecutor Lie.

There are a number of aggravating things in Azis' actions.

"The aggravating things, the defendant's actions did not support the government's program in eradicating corruption, the defendant's actions damaged the public's image and trust in the House of Representatives, the defendant did not admit his guilt and was complicated at trial. The mitigating thing was that the defendant had never been convicted before," said the prosecutor.

Initially, the KPK investigated allegations of corruption in the form of accepting gifts or promises related to the management of the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) of the Central Lampung Regency Budget for the 2017 Fiscal Year since 8 October 2019 where it was suspected that Azis and Aliza Gunado were involved as bribe recipients.

Azis tried to prevent himself and Aliza Gunado from being suspects by the KPK, by seeking help from KPK investigators and being introduced to Stepanus Robin, who has been a KPK investigator since August 15, 2019 from the National Police.

Azis then met with Stepanus Robin at Azis' official residence in August 2020 to take care of the case involving Azis and Aliza related to the KPK investigation in Central Lampung.

Stepanus Robin and Maskur Husain expressed their willingness to help in exchange for a sum of Rp. 4 billion with a calculation of Rp. 2 billion each from Azis and Aliza Gunado, with an advance of Rp. 300 million and Azis agreed.

Azis gave the advance payment to Stepanus Robin and Maskur Husain, with the distribution of Stepanus Robin receiving Rp. 100 million and Maskur Husain receiving Rp. 200 million. The money was transferred from Azis' BCA account in four stages, each amounting to IDR 50 million, namely on 2, 3, 4 and 5 August 2020.

On August 5, 2020, Azis again gave 100 thousand US dollars in cash to Stepanus Robin at Azis' official residence on Jalan Denpasar Raya, South Jakarta.

Some of the US dollars that Azis gave, amounting to 36 thousand US dollars, were handed over to Maskur Husain in front of the Central Jakarta District Court, while the remaining 64 thousand US dollars were exchanged at a "money changer" for a total of Rp 936 million.

Part of the money from the exchange was given to Maskur Husain of Rp. 300 million in early September 2020 at the Borero Keramat Sentiong restaurant.

In addition to these gifts from August 2020 to March 2021, Azis also gave money to Stepanus Robin and Maskur Husain several times, the total amount being 171,900 Singapore dollars.

Stepanus Robin then exchanged the money at a "money changer" using the identities of Agus Susanto and Rizky Cinde Awaliyah (a friend of Stepanus Robin) into rupiah in the amount of IDR 1,863,887,000.

Some of the money was then given to Maskur Husain, namely in early September 2020 in the amount of IDR 1 billion and IDR 800 million still in September 2020.

So that the total bribes given by Azis Syamsuddin to Stepanus Robin Pattuju and Maskur Husain were Rp.3,099,887,000 and US$36 thousand with the aim that Stepanus Robin and Maskur Husain take care of the case involving Azis Syamsuddin and Aliza Gunado related to the KPK investigation in Central Lampung.

Azis Syamsuddin is scheduled to read a memorandum of defense (pleidoi) on February 3, 2022.