Musi Banyuasin Dodi Reza Alex Noerdin's Delayed Trial Of Regent Bribery Judgment Delayed, This Is The Cause

The trial of the defendant Suhandy at the Palembang South Sumatra District Court on Thursday (9/3/2022). (ANTARA/M Riezko Bima Elko)

SOUTH SUMATERA - The panel of judges at the Palembang District Court (PN) postponed the trial for reading the verdict against the defendant Suhandy Director of PT Selaras Simpati Nusantara, as the bribe giver to the inactive Regent Musi Banyuasin Dodi Reza Alex Noerdin, because there was a change in the composition of the panel of judges.

"We convey here that the trial for this verdict has been postponed until Tuesday, March 15, 2022. So, we apologize to all trial participants for the long wait," said Judge Yoserizal at the Palembang District Court, South Sumatra, as reported by Antara, Thursday, March 10.

Suhandy is the accused of giving bribes to Dodi Reza Alex, who is the son of former South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin, and other officials in the case of alleged corruption in the construction of four infrastructure projects at the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Office of Musi Banyuasin Regency in 2021.

Yoserizal said the change in the composition of the Panel of Judges was based on the fact that the Chief Justice Abdul Aziz, who had handled the case since the beginning of the trial, was still undergoing medical treatment due to exposure to COVID-19.

Thus, the Palembang District Court issued a letter determining the composition of the replacement panel of judges, which consisted of Yoserizal as Chair of the Panel of Judges and Waslan Makhsid and Efrata Happy Tarigan as Member Judges.

The decision to replace the panel of judges had previously been coordinated by the Palembang District Court with the Supreme Court (MA).

"So, for that reason, the trial was postponed because the Panel of Judges, who had just been appointed, needed time to study the case files again so that there were no mistakes in making decisions," he said.

The Defendant Suhandy was sentenced to three years in prison by the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly giving bribes worth Rp. 4.4 billion to Dodi Reza Alex, who was then the Regent of Musi Banyuasin.

The bribe was given by Suhandy through Herman Mayori as Head of the Musi Banyuasin PUPR Service and Eddi Umari as Head of the SDA/PPK Division of the Musi Banyuasin PUPR Service.

This demand was conveyed by the KPK prosecutor in a trial at the Palembang District Court, chaired by Judge Abdul Aziz, on Thursday, February 17.

"The defendant Suhandy is sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of Rp. 150 million, subsidiary of four months," said KPK Public Prosecutor Taufik Ibnugroho while reading the indictment at the trial.

According to the KPK prosecutor, the defendant Suhandy gave the bribe money to win four infrastructure projects in Musi Banyuasin in 2021.

The four projects are the Rehabilitation of the Ngulak III Irrigation Area (IDPMIP) in Ngulak III Village, Sanga District, with a contract value of Rp. 2.39 billion; improvement of the irrigation network of the Epil Swamp Irrigation Area (DIR) with a contract value of Rp. 4.3 billion; improvement of irrigation network of DIR Muara Teladan with a contract value of Rp. 3.3 billion; and normalization of Ulak Ria Lake, Sekayu District with a contract value of Rp. 9.9 billion.

Suhandy was charged with Article 5 paragraph (1) of 1999 regarding the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law (UU) Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 65 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.