Ex-Indonesian speaker jailed

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s former parliament speaker was given a 15-year prison term on Tuesday in one of the country’s toughest sentences for graft, marking a victory in a continuing clampdown on widespread corruption.

Setya Novanto, once among the country’s most influential politicians, had been accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes linked to the national roll-out of government ID cards.

"We have found defendant Setya Novanto, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty of violating anti-corruption law," presiding Judge Yanto told the packed Jakarta courtroom. Novanto -- once praised by Donald Trump as one Indonesia’s most powerful figures -- said he would need time to consider an appeal.

His months-long trial came after a string of manoeuvres -- including allegedly faking an injury in a car crash -- which critics say the 62-year-old used to dodge serious charges. Prosecutors had demanded a 16-year sentence.

Judge Yanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, also fined Novanto 500 million rupiah, far less than the $7.4 million prosecutors had wanted him to pay as restitution to the state.

Novanto, who had managed to sidestep corruption allegations in the past, was accused of playing a key role in embezzlement from the $440 million ID card project, with some $170 million disappearing from state coffers. Several other politicians, government officials and businessmen have been charged in the scandal.

The scale of the graft shocked many Indonesians even in one of the world’s most corrupt countries. Payoffs and bribes are rife at all levels of society and endemic in many state agencies, including the police force. Indonesia ranked 96th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index last year, while it scored a lowly 37 on a scale of perceived public corruption with 100 seen as "very clean" and zero "highly corrupt". The war on graft has come with a high price for some.