This West Jakarta District Court Judge Admits Receiving "Thank You" IDR 300 Million Related To The Case Of The Mayor Of Kediri

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SURABAYA - West Jakarta District Court (PN) judge, Dede Suryaman said all judges accepted bribes, in the case that ensnared the Mayor of Kediri in 2021. Dede admitted that he received a total of IDR 300 million which was distributed to other member judges.

"I received the money of IDR 300 million, but the money has also been distributed to other member judges", said Dede, while witnessing the alleged bribery case involving Substitute Registrar (PP) M. Hamdan, at the Surabaya Corruption Court, Tuesday, August 2, 2022.

The former judge of the Surabaya Corruption Court (Tipikor) is a witness in the case involving Hamdan, which is a series of cases involving Judge Itong Isnaini and lawyer RM Hendro Kasiono.

In his testimony, Dede was initially asked by the public prosecutor (JPU) about the case related to the defendant Hamdan, namely the giving of money in connection with the corruption case of the Mayor of Kediri with the accused doctor Samsul Ashar.

"In that case, I became the Chairman of the Panel of Judges, and as members of the panel of judges were Kusdarwanto and Emma Ellyani", he said.

In this case, Dede was questioned by the public prosecutor regarding the chronology of decision-making. Because, in the testimony of judge Kusdarwanto and ad hoc judge Emma Ellyani, it was stated that there was a long debate before the sentencing of the defendant, Doctor Samsul.

The debate in question is the number of sentences handed down. In the assembly deliberation, Judge Kusdarwanto at that time wanted the defendant to be sentenced to 5 years in prison and Judge Emma wanted a sentence of 7 years in prison.

"At that time there was indeed a debate. Each of them had a proposal and at that time I proposed 4 years and 6 months with humanitarian considerations. The demand was 12 years in prison", he said.

Before the debate took place, continued Dede, he received the money he called "thank you money" from the defendant's lawyer, Yuda. "Give thanks before the verdict of IDR 300 million", he said.

However, said Dede, the hundreds of millions of money were not only for himself, but were shared with other member judges, each of whom received IDR 100 million. Specifically for the defendant Hamdan, Dede gave him IDR 10 million. However, he admitted that he forgot when the prosecutor reminded him of the statement in the BAP which stated that the defendant was given IDR 30 million as witness money.

"The defendant Hamdan was IDR 10 million, the other judges were IDR 100 million. For Hamdan, I forgot, IDR 10 million or IDR 30 million, I forgot", he said.

Dede claimed that the money had been returned to a lawyer named Yuda. The refund process was given to Yuda at a restaurant located next to the Surabaya District Court.

Before returning the money, he admitted that he had withdrawn the money that had been distributed to the judge and the defendant. He reasoned, returning the money because the decision of the panel of judges on the case of the Mayor of Kediri could not be unanimous.

"I have handed over the money to Yuda. We will hand it over to the shop next to the District Court. All the money is returned to Yuda", he said.

It is known that the trial of the inactive corruption case against bribery gratification of the Surabaya District Court Judge Itong Isnaeni Hidayat was held at the Corruption Court (Tipikor), Surabaya.

In this case, Itong was not alone, he was indicted together with M Hamdan; Substitute Registrar, and Hendro Kasiono; an attorney, in a separate file. The total bribes received in this case reached IDR 545 million.