PEKANBARU (Yosefardi) – Panel of judges at the Pekanbaru Corruption Court in Riau province have released three suspects in the case of smuggling subsidized fuel worth Rp1.3 trillion from corruption and money laundering charges.
Panel of judges presided by Ahmad Setio Pudjoharsoyo concluded that the three suspects have not been proven guilty in committing corruption and money laundering acts in their attempts of smuggling subsidized fuel from Batam, Riau Islands, to overseas black market.
The three suspects released by the court are Niwen Kahiriah (low-ranking civil servant in Batam), Yusri (officer at the state-owned oil & gas company PT Pertamina), and Arifin Achmad (part officer at the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL).
Previously, the prosecutor team demanded panel of judges to drop 16 years, 10 years, and 15 years in jail to Niwen, Yusri, and Arifin.
Niwen, Yusri, and Arifin are three out of five suspects in this case. The two other suspects are Niwen’s old brother Achmad Machbub aka Abop and Agun. Both Abob and Agun have been sentenced to 4 years in jail, lighter than the prosecutor’s demand of 16 years imprisonment. (haryantosuharman@yosefardi.com)