Former NTB Bima Social Service Head Sentenced To Free In Fire Bansos Corruption Case

The defendant in the corruption of the fire social assistance in Bima Regency Andi Sirajudin (left) walked out of the courtroom with the legal advisor/ANTARA

The panel of judges acquitted Andi Sirajudin, the former Head of the Bima Regency Social Service (Dinsos), West Nusa Tenggara in the corruption case of cutting social assistance funds (bansos) for the affected communities in 2020. "Declaring that Sirajudin is not proven guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption as stated in the indictment of the public prosecutor so that he hereby releases the defendant from all charges," said Chief Justice Mukhlasuddin during a verdict hearing at the Mataram Corruption Court (Tipikor), Antara, Monday, April 17. By declaring the defendant free from all charges, the judge ordered the public prosecutor to remove Sirajudin from detention and restore the dignity of the defendant. The public prosecutor previously requested that the judge impose a sentence on Sirajudin for 3 years and a fine of Rp. 250 million, subsidiary to 6 months in prison. The prosecutor demanded such a sentence by stating that the defendant's actions were proven to have violated Articles 11 and 12e of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law no. 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code. The prosecutor previously explained that the origin of this corruption case was revealed, namely from the complaints of social assistance beneficiaries in the distribution program in 2021. The beneficiaries of this assistance came from the fire disaster victims in Bima Regency in 2020 as many as 258 families spread across 6 villages. Each recipient gets financial assistance from the ministry directly to their respective personal accounts. The total funds disbursed are IDR 5.4 billion. The budget is received in two stages, 60 percent for the first stage, the rest is given on the condition that the recipient must make an accountability letter (SPJ). From the examination of beneficiaries with a total of 258 people, it was revealed that there was a cut in social assistance funds from the Bima District Social Service with varying nominal. The cuts occurred when the recipient disbursed the social assistance funds through the banking sector. According to the recipient's statement, the Social Service Agency cut it with the excuse of administrative costs. The cut value is quite diverse, ranging from Rp. 500 thousand to Rp. 1.2 million per recipient. In this case, the prosecutor also described the roles of each defendant starting with the report of the defendant Sukardin as a companion to Andi Sirajudin, the Head of the Bima District Social Service regarding recipients who could not make SPJ. As the head of the service, Andi also ordered Sukardin to cut social assistance funds from aid recipients as an administrative fee for making SPJs. The cuts varied. For houses that were lightly damaged, Rp. 500 thousand was cut, moderately damaged Rp. 800 thousand, and heavily damaged Rp. 1.2 million. From that cut, Sukardin managed to collect Rp105 million. The cut was then deposited with Andi Sirajudin and Ismud. From the funds collected, the prosecutor explained that Andi Sirajudin received Rp23 million and Ismud Rp32 million. Sukardin took the remaining Rp50 million. With the description of such charges, the judge did not find any facts about the trial related to the evidence that Sirajudin received the deduction money. Abdul Hanan, Andi Sirajudin's legal adviser after the trial, also spoke about the allegations against his client who received a cut of Rp. 23 million. "The judge in the verdict stated that there was no legal fact about it (receiving deduction funds)," said Abdul Hanan. He also emphasized that his client never enjoyed the Rp23 million. Instead, the money has been used up for the cost of handling flash floods in Bima Regency, purchasing fire vehicle batteries, and operating public kitchens.

"It was used in early 2021. So, the money (cuts) was not used by our clients," he said.