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It was not a happy birthday for Bang Ipul.
1 Agustus 2017 14:05
Dangdut singer Saipul Jamil has been sentenced to another three years in prison after he was found guilty of bribing the clerk of North Jakarta Court Rohadi with Rp 250 million.
"The defendant Saipul Jamil has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of committing a criminal act of corruption," stated judge Baslin Sinaga, reading out the verdict in Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor), Central Jakarta, on Monday.
The singer was proven to violate the Law No. 31/1999 Article 5 Paragraph 1b on corruption.
He was also told to pay Rp 100 million, or face an additional three months in prison.
Saipul bribed Rohadi with Rp 250 million so the punishment he gets following his sexual assault case sentence could be lowered from the initial three years of imprisonment.
However, instead of getting the sentence lowered, the judges decided to approve prosecutors appeal to increase the punishment to five years of imprisonment. With this new sentence, the singer has to face eight years of imprisonment in total with only one year down to date.
The act of bribery itself was done by his brother Samsul Hidayatullah and two of his lawyers Berthanatalia and Kasman Sangaji, with the money coming from Saipul's personal savings.
"The defendant acknowledged [the bribery] and gave Samsul [an instruction] to do so by transferring the money from his account," said the judge.
Samsul was said to be given Rp 565 million by Saipul to 'deal with the case'. Samsul then gave Rp 200 million to Bertha to give to Rohadi the court clerk. However, Rohadi asked for another Rp 50 million for the deed.
Meanwhile, Bertha told Samsul that she has given Rp 300 million to Rohadi and needed Rp 100 million more for her legal counsel.
The number might not add up as there has been confusion in the testimonies and probably internal conflict between the lawyers regarding the money.
However, the main fact remained that Rohadi admitted having received Rp 250 million from Saipuls team as a bribe in the sexual assault case.
The singer has asked for a week to consider whether he wants to file an appeal, while the prosecutor for anti-graft agency (KPK) asked the same thing.
I see injustice here, thats why Im asking for time to think, Saipul said on Monday at Court. Ive never harmed the country. So, when my punishment is similar those of the people who steal the countrys money, I could not accept it. It seems unfair.
