Akil Shows No Remorse After Life Sentence Verdict

Former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Akil Mochtar on June 30, 2014 gets an unprecedented life sentence for graft.       (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Jakarta. Disgraced Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar decided to play the innocent game after being handed a life sentence by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court for a string of cases said to have brought public distrust upon the law-enforcement institution.
Answering questions by journalists after the reading of his verdict on Monday evening, Akil insisted he was not guilty of the acts of bribery and money laundering he was accused of.
“No [not sorry],” he told journalists, adding that the life sentence handed to him had been part of a deal made by certain entities seeking revenge against him.
“This is a deal. It’s a revenge,” he said, without providing further explanation.
The former Golkar Party politician has in previous occasions claimed he was not sorry for the deeds he was accused of, saying that the allegations were false.
The Anti-Corruption Court on Monday night sentenced Akil to a life of imprisonment for taking bribes and gifts worth up to Rp 60 billion ($5 million) from 15 regional election disputes handled by the Constitutional Court.
The court also said Akil has been proven guilty of laundering hundreds of billions of rupiah since 2002.
Akil said after the trial that he would file for an appeal. “I will file an appeal to God and to heaven,” he said.
Akil — who, as chief of the Constitutional Court, agreed that people found guilty of corruption should be stripped of their wealth and have their fingers cut off — said on Monday night that he was ready to cut off one of his ears.
“[I will] cut my ear and mustache,” he said, when reporters asked him to follow up on his previous statements.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it hoped the verdict would find solid support by the Supreme court.
“The KPK will make sure that all verdicts at the anti-corruption courts be strengthened at the Supreme Court,” KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said on Tuesday.
Prosecutors from the KPK, however, said they were not satisfied with the verdict, as their demands were not fully met by the judges.
“We are not fully satisfied because the verdict still lacks a ruling for his impoverishment,” said Pulung Rinandoro, one of the prosecutors, after the trial.
He also pointed that judges had not revoked Akil’s political rights and that they have ordered for evidence collected from the legal process to be returned to Akil, despite being proven to be products of money laundering.
“We will file an appeal because we stand with our charges. We will fight the best we can to have our demands granted,” Pupung said.

By SP/Novianti Setuningsih & Rizki Amelia on 12:04 pm Jul 01, 2014