Former Regent Of Nganjuk Is Accused Of Buying And Selling Positions

Indictment trial of former Regent of Nganjuk, East Java, Novi Rahman Hidhayat/ Antara

JAKARTA - The former regent of Nganjuk, East Java, Novi Rahman Hidhayat has been charged with alleged corruption in the sale and purchase of positions within the local regency administration.

KPK Public Prosecutor (JPU) Andie Wicaksono said the defendant Novi Rahman Hidhayat as a state administrator or to be precise the Nganjuk Regent in the 2018-2023 term of office was charged with abusing power.

"The Corruption Court at the Surabaya District Court has the authority to examine and adjudicate the case based on the provisions of Article 35 paragraph (2) of Law Number 46 of 2009 concerning the Corruption Crime Court with the intention of benefiting oneself or others unlawfully or by abusing their power. ," he said in his first trial at the Surabaya Corruption Court (Tipikor), as reported by Antara, Monday, August 30.

In the indictment, the defendant is considered to have intentionally obtained money by not carrying out his obligations as the Nganjuk Regent in the selection of filling out village officials.

The prosecutor assessed that the defendant did not apply the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 131.35-5901 of 2018 dated 5 September 2018 concerning the Appointment of the Nganjuk Regent of East Java Province and the minutes of taking the oath of the Nganjuk Regent on 24 September 2018.

According to him, the defendant did not carry out the principles of clean and good governance with strings attached and hoped for a reward from the village head (kades) through the sub-district head in his area when filling out the village apparatus selection.

Andie stated that Novi as the Regent of Nganjuk was found guilty after forcing village heads whose territory was to conduct a selection of village officials through the sub-district heads in Nganjuk Regency to give each Rp 10 million to Rp 15 million.

In this case, Regent Novi was charged with Article 12 letter e of Law no. 31 of 1999 as amended by Law no. 20 of 2001 concerning Amendments to Law no. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes.

Meanwhile, the defendant's attorney, Tisat Afriyandi stated that he would file an exception at the trial next week. According to him, there are several alternative indictments submitted by the Public Prosecutor regarding the reasons in detail which will be studied further.

"In principle, our exception is the right of the defendant, as regulated in Article 156 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, the defendant has the right to give an answer to the prosecutor. What is clear, we are filing an exception, next week our schedule is to provide an answer to the exception," he said.

He emphasized that there were several things that his party considered before filing an exception. One of them is the indictment from the public prosecutor which is considered vague.

"There are many (considerations), the exceptions, there are a number of things, related to the vague indictment and so on, we will discuss it with the team. So, there are many things that we need to look into again regarding the indictment, more details later on the exception, we will surgery one by one," he said.

Previously, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) confirmed that it carried out a hand arrest operation (OTT) in Nganjuk Regency, East Java, Sunday, May 9. It is suspected that Nganjuk Regent Novi Rahman Hidayat was caught in the OTT.