Antigraft Activists Applaud Akil’s Life Sentence

Former judge Akil Mochtar, center, walks to a courtroom prior to his corruption trial in Jakarta on June 30, 2014. Mochtar was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery. (AFP Photo/Robert)

Jakarta. A leading antigraft watchdog has applauded the Anti-Corruption Court’s decision to sentence former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar to life in prison.

“This verdict will not only give a deterrent effect but also send a message to other law enforcers not to commit corruption or take bribes,” said Emerson Yuntho, the legal monitoring coordinator of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), on Tuesday.
Emerson said the life sentence handed to Akil was a glimpse of the country’s serious efforts in the fight against corruption.
“Let’s hope this kind of sentence will not be the last. An extraordinary crime deserves an extraordinary punishment as well,” he said.
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.
Antigraft activist Zainal Arifin Muchtar from Gadjah Mada University’s anti-corruption research center (Pukat UGM) said the harsh sentence for Akil was called for, as the case has resulted in a magnitude of problems.
“This case has caused extensive damages, the whole country was affected and the president was forced to issue a new regulation,” Zainal said referring to the regulation in lieu of law, or perppu, which was issued by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Oct. 17, shortly after Akil’s arrest on Oct. 1.
The perppu, when first issued, made two primary amendments with regard to the appointment of Constitutional Court justices.
The first amendment stipulates that candidates for the post must not have been a member of a political party within seven years prior to admittance, while the second introduced the establishment of a seven-member panel of experts by the Judicial Commission, to screen and shortlist candidates.
However, with Akil on Monday evening vowing to file an appeal and seek to change the verdict, Zainal said the sentence could change at a higher court level.
He emphasized that the deterrent effect would be effective if the court applied additional sentences for Akil, such as by ordering him to compensate the state losses caused by his deeds and have his political rights revoked.
“If it’s only a prison sentence, people will think that it might not be so bad because he still gets to enjoy his immense wealth, it won’t stop others from committing corruption,” Zainal said.
Zainal, however, commended the judges’ move to hand Akil the life sentence — the first ever handed to a person guilty of corruption since the establishment of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
“The harshest sentence before this was probably 20 years in prison for prosecutor Urip,” he said referring to Urip Tri Gunawan who was found guilty of taking bribes from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani in 2008, in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case.
“We need to constantly remind people about this [case] because Indonesians suffer from amnesia — we forget and forgive things very quickly,” he said.

By Dessy Sagita & Rizky Amelia on 02:00 pm Jul 01, 2014