JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – Rusli Zainal, former Riau Governor and key leader of Golkar Party, is jailed for 14 years as he is proven guilty of committing corruption in the Pelalawan forestry permit and the implementation of the National Games (PON) in Riau.

The punishment is however lighter that 17 years jail term demanded by the prosecutors.

The panel of judges at the Pekanbaru Corruption Court, on Wednesday’s trial, concluded that Rusli was proven to have violated article 2 paragraph 1, article 18, article 55, and article 56 paragraph 1 of the Anti-Corruption Law No. 31/1999.

Rusli is also obliged to pay Rp1 billion in fines which can be substituted with six months jail term.

The PON graft case has dragged a lot of politicians from Golkar and other political parties. So far, KPK has named 14 suspects in the case. (haryantos@yosefardi.biz)