Banda Aceh District Court Rejects Exception Of Zekir Land Corruption Defendant, Session Continued To Evidence

The atmosphere of the trial of the corruption case in land acquisition for remembrance at the Corruption Court at the Banda Aceh District Court in Banda Aceh, Tuesday (30/7/2024). ANTARA/M Haris SA

The panel of judges at the Corruption Court at the Banda Aceh District Court rejected the exception or objection to the indictment of the defendant in the corruption crime of land acquisition for remembrance at Ulee Lheue, Banda Aceh City, Aceh.

The rejection of the exception was conveyed by the panel of judges chaired by Teuku Syarafi in an interim decision at the trial at the Corruption Court at the Banda Aceh District Court in Banda Aceh, Tuesday, July 30.

The defendant who filed the exception was M Yasir who is also the former Head of the Banda Aceh City Public Works and Spatial Planning Office.

In this case, M Yasir as the technical implementation officer for the activity (PPTK) for the procurement of zhikr land at the Banda Aceh City Public Works and Spatial Planning Office.

At the trial, the defendant M Yasir was accompanied by Tanzil and his friends as legal advisers. Meanwhile, Public Prosecutor Devi Safliana and friends from the Banda Aceh District Attorney's Office were also present.

"Declaring the exception or objection of the defendant and legal counsel to the indictment of the public prosecutor is unacceptable," said the panel of judges.

In their consideration, the panel of judges stated that the indictment of the public prosecutor had carefully described the defendant's actions. Therefore, the defendant's objection to the indictment must be put aside

"After the panel of judges observed, the defendant's exception was included in the subject matter of the case. The main point of this case will be proven in the evidentiary trial," said the panel of judges.

Therefore, the panel of judges considered that this case should be continued, and ordered the public prosecutor to continue examining cases by presenting witnesses.

The panel of judges continued their trial on August 6, 2024, with the agenda of hearing the statements of witnesses from the public prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Tanzil, the defendant's legal adviser M Yasir, stated that he respected the decision between the panel of judges.

"We respect the decision of the panel of judges. We will reveal that our client is not as indicted by the public prosecutor at the next trial," he said.

Previously, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) charged M Yasir with two other defendants with separate files, namely Deddy Armansyah as the Head of Ulee Lheue Village, Meuraxa District, Banda Aceh City, and Sofyan Hadi, as the recipient of land compensation, committed a criminal act of corruption in the procurement of zikr land with state losses reaching Rp1 billion.

The public prosecutor said that in the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years, the Banda Aceh City Government allocated Rp3.27 billion for the procurement of the zhikr Nurul Arafah Islamic Center with an area of more than 1,000 square meters, in Gampong Ulee Lheue, Meuraxa District, Banda Aceh City.

Some points on the land or land are not known to the owner. The defendant Deddy Armansyah as the village head made a sporadic or letter of land control in the name of Sofyan Hadi.

Furthermore, the defendant M Yasir as PPTK legalized the land in the name of Sofyan Hadi and made payments by transferring compensation money to a personal account.

"It turned out that, after further investigation, it turned out that the land was a former village market and aisle. The actions of the defendants cost the state finances more than Rp. 1 billion," said the prosecutor.