Proven Corruption, Former Head Of East Lombok Distan Was Sentenced To 5 Tajhun Prison

Former Head of East Lombok Distan Zaini/ANTARA/Dhimas BP

The Panel of Judges at the Corruption Court at the Mataram District Court, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) sentenced the former Head of the East Lombok Agriculture Service (Distan) Zaini to 5 years in prison.

The panel of judges sentenced Zaini in the trial of the corruption case in the distribution of Agricultural Equipment and Machinery (Alsintan) in East Lombok Regency for the 2018 fiscal year.

"The defendant Engineer Zaini was sentenced to 5 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 250 million, subsidiary to 3 months in prison," said Somanasa as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 5.

The panel of judges made this decision by stating Zaini's actions in his capacity as Head of the East Lombok Distan have been proven to have violated the public prosecutor's primary indictment.

The indictment relates to Article 2 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law no. 20 of 2001 jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.

In consideration, the judge conveyed that the defendant's actions that participated against the law committed acts of enriching himself or other people or a corporation had resulted in state financial losses of Rp3.81 billion according to the results of the NTB BPKP audit.

However, Mahyudin Igo, a member of the judge, made a dissenting opinion or dissent different from the panel. Igo stated that Zaini was not proven guilty of violating the primary and subsidiary charges of the public prosecutor so that he was free from all prosecutors' demands.

Igo stated this by assessing Zaini's mistake, who did not follow the technical guidelines for the implementation of the aid distribution program from the Ministry of Agriculture, had not yet touched the crime according to the public prosecutor's indictment.

The alsintan aid distribution project through the East Lombok Agriculture Service came from the assistance of the Directorate General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia for the 2018 Fiscal Year.

In the procurement, the government distributed aid in the form of alsintan to farmers registered in two UPJAs in the East Lombok region.

The alsintan assistance included 5 units of 4-wheeled tractors, 60 units of two-wheeled tractors, 121 units of 3-inch water pumps, 29 irrigation water pumps, and 250 units of "handsprayers".