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Cibinong Prosecutor Briber Cleared of Earlier Corruption Charges
Vento Saudale | January 10, 2012

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Bogor. The man who bribed a district prosecutor in Cibinong, West Java, was acquitted on Monday of charges of embezzlement and check fraud worth Rp 5.6 billion ($616,000).

Cibinong District Court Judge Emmanuel Ari Budihardjo said the panel of judges found the defendant, Edward Bunyamin, not guilty because his case should have been tried in a civil court and not in a criminal one.

“So the judges believe that the defendant should be free of all charges,” Emmanuel said.

He said the judges also considered the defendant’s good will, which he demonstrated by pledging his land and building certificate as a payment for default.

“The defendant has also paid compensation of more than Rp 1 billion,” he added.

Edward was arrested in November by investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after he bribed a prosecutor who was handling his fraud and embezzlement case.

The prosecutor, Sistoyo, allegedly received Rp 99.9 million in bank notes, which were said to have originated from Edward.

KPK investigators found the bank notes hidden inside Sistoyo’s car, which was parked outside the Cibinong prosecutor’s office.

Marwan Effendy, the deputy attorney general for internal supervision who has investigated the case, said he believed Sistoyo was supposed to receive more money and that the initial amount was just a “down payment.”

He said Rp 2.5 billion had been pledged but it was unclear whether there would be other recipients in addition to Sistoyo.

When asked whether the judges considered the bribery allegations against Edward in their decision on Monday, Emmanuel said “the bribery case is still in the investigation process and there is no binding ruling yet, so the judges couldn’t take it into consideration.”

After the acquittal, prosecutor Epiyarti said his team planned to appeal the verdict.

Last month, KPK investigators questioned all three judges from the Cibinong District Court who were hearing Edward’s case, including Emmanuel. At that time, Emmanuel had denied accusations that the judges were potentially involved in the bribery.

The Attorney General’s Office has dismissed the head of the Cibinong prosecutor’s office, Suripto Widodo, following the arrest of his subordinate.

Sistoyo and Edward are now in KPK custody and waiting for their bribery case to go to trial.

In the embezzlement case, Edward had been charged with defrauding another businessman of Rp 5.6 billion related to a project for a shopping area in Cisarua, near Cibinong.

Sistoyo had repeatedly postponed his sentencing demand prior to the alleged bribery.