Atut may face more years for other graft cases

JAKARTA. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Tuesday that suspended Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah would face other graft trials in the near future.

The antigraft body is currently completing Atut’s dossiers on two separate graft cases on extortion and corruption regarding the procurement of medical equipment by the Banten administration between 2011 and 2013.

KPK chairman Abraham Samad said on Tuesday that the KPK would soon announce Atut’s legal status with regard to allegations that she gained her wealth using dirty money taken from state projects at her office.

“Don’t worry [about the lenient sentence]. Money-laundering charges will follow,” he said.

The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Atut on Monday to a lenient four years in prison, compared to the 10 years demanded by prosecutors, for bribing former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar. The ruling was blasted by the KPK and anti-corruption campaigners.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said that separate trials would be more suitable for a graft suspect who was involved in multiple corruption and money-laundering cases.

If Atut were to be tried for corruption and money laundering in one trial, she would face the possibility of a maximum 20 years in prison, the maximum a prosecutor can demand in one trail despite the number of charges.

However, if Atut is tried for corruption and money laundering in separate trials, KPK prosecutors could demand a maximum of 20 years on each count.