Undergoing Trial At The Semarang Corruption Court, The Former Head Of Panjang Village Is Still Being Detained At The Kudus Detention Center

Class II B Kudus State Detention Center (Rutan), Central Java. (ANTARA/Akhmad Nazaruddin Lathif)

JAKARTA - The former village head (Kades) Panjang in Kudus with the initials AD who is a defendant in a corruption case of village funds has undergone his first trial at the Semarang Corruption Court. However, the defendant is still undergoing detention at the Class II B Detention Center Kudus.

"We have transferred the file of the village fund corruption case involving the former Head of Panjang Village to the Semarang Corruption Court on June 15, 2023," said Head of the Kudus District Attorney's Office (Kejari) Henry W. Putro in Kudus, Central Java, Friday, June 23, as reported by Antara.

The inaugural session of the Army with the agenda of reading the indictment was held on June 21, 2023. AD will undergo a follow-up trial in two weeks with the agenda of examining witnesses.

Putro said that although the files and defendants had been transferred to the Semarang Corruption Court, AD was still being held at the Kudus Detention Center because the trial took place online.

As for the public prosecutor (JPU), he continued, he was still present at the Semarang Corruption Court.

"The defendant remains in Kudus or transferred to Semarang according to the judge's request, including the witness later," he said.

Before being transferred to the Kudus Detention Center, AD initially served a sentence at the Slawi Penitentiary due to another case.

The alleged corruption case of village funds in Panjang Village occurred in 2016 with an APBDes value of Rp. 1.46 billion from village original income of Rp. 89.32 million, village fund allocation of Rp. 691.23 million, village funds of Rp. 619.06 million, revenues for regional tax revenues of Rp. 46.87 million, revenues for regional levies of Rp. 13.77 million, and receipts of provincial financial assistance worth Rp. 5 million.

With such a large budget, some funds are used for physical development and other development programs.

However, when the village head made an accountability report, BPD Panjang was not willing to sign because there were funds that could not be accounted for by the village head as the implementer of village development.

Furthermore, the Kudus Inspectorate conducted an examination and found several actions that were contrary to the law that could harm state finances.

Based on the Examination Results Report (LHP) from the Kudus District Inspectorate Number 700/79 dated November 3, 2017, allegations of violations with a total of IDR 130.14 million cannot be accounted for. Among them is the physical shortage of village cash of IDR 41.01 million, nine physical works have a high price and a shortage of work volume of IDR 31.41 million.

Other findings, namely that there were expenditures that could not be accounted for amounting to Rp22.07 million and in the procurement of infrastructure goods and services and development activities as well as the maintenance of houses of worship, were not equipped with evidence of support of Rp35.65 million.