Former Head Of NTB ESDM Office Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For AMG Mining Corruption Case

Photos of files of iron sand corruption defendants who are former Head of NTB ESDM Zainal Abidin/ANTARA

The panel of judges who tried the corruption case of the iron sand mine PT Anugrah Mitra Graha (AMG) in the Dedalpak Block sentenced the former Head of the Energy and Mineral Service of West Nusa Tenggara Province Zainal Abidin to a 5-year prison sentence.

"The trial was by imposing a sentence on the defendant Zainal Abidin with a prison sentence of 5 years," said Chief Justice Mukhlassuddin when reading out Zainal Abidin's verdict in the agenda of the verdict hearing at the Corruption Court at the Mataram District Court, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, February 13.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rp. 200 million, subsidiary to 2 months in prison and also asked the prosecutor to keep the defendant in custody.

The judge handed down the verdict by stating that the defendant's actions in his capacity as head of the NTB ESDM Service had been proven to have violated the first indictment of the public prosecutor's primary.

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 Number 20 of 2001 jo. Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.

"That the defendant has been legally and convincingly proven to have participated in a criminal act of corruption as the public prosecutor's first primary indictment," he said.

The act was seen from the facts of the trial that the defendant in his capacity as Head of the NTB ESDM Service for the period 2021 to 2023 was involved in providing access to PT AMG to carry out mining in the Dedalpak Block for the period 2021-2022 without the approval of the planned activity and budget (RKAB) from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources RI.

This decision is lighter than the prosecutor's demands, which at the previous trial asked the panel of judges to sentence him to 12 years in prison with a fine of Rp. 500 million, subsidiary to 6 months in prison.