Supreme Court Punishes Former Medan Major with 5 Year Jail Term

Medan, North Sumatra (Antara) - The Medan District Court said it has handed over the excerpt of a decision of the Supreme Court to the lawyer of former Medan Mayor Rahudman Harahap, who was found guilty of corruption. The Supreme Court punished Rahudman with a five-years' imprisonment annulling an earlier decision of the Medan Special Corruption Court, which acquitted him of all charges. The verdict is even heavier than a four-year jail term demanded by the public prosecutor in the Medan Special Corruption Court. Spokesman of the Medan District Court Nelson J Marbun said the excerpt of the Supreme Court's verdict was handed over to the lawyer of the convict here on Friday. "The excerpt of the verdict was to be handed over directly to Rahudman Harahap, but the court official could not find him personally. Therefore, it was given to his layer," Nelson said. The decision sent by the Supreme Court to the Medan District Court was in the form of excerpt not yet a copy, he said, adding it was received on April 1. "Based on the excerpt of the verdict, the Supreme Court handed down a five year jail term for Rahudman Harahap," he said. In August, 2013, the Medan Special Corruption Court acquitted Rahudman Harahap of the corruption charges filed by the public prosecutor. The public prosecutor charged Rahudman of being involved in the embezzlement Rp2.071 billion of the state fund appropriated for civil servants' allowance in South Tapanuli when he was secretary of the district administration there in 2005. (*)