http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/corruption-fighter-jailed-for-murder/story-e6frg6so-1225829445312
Corruption fighter jailed for murder Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent From: The Australian February 12, 2010 12:00AM INDONESIA'S former anti-graft boss has escaped the death penalty for the murder of a businessman and reputed love rival, being sentenced instead to 18 years' jail in a case that has drawn sharp questions about the country's reform credentials. Antasari Azhar, a former public prosecutor who rose to the top of the country's corruption watchdog and holds a legal diploma from the University of NSW, immediately swore to appeal. Antasari was the ninth person to be found guilty over the murder last March of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, a killing prosecutors said was prompted by Antasari's romantic involvement with a mistress of the victim. Antasari displayed little emotion as the verdict was read by a three-man panel of judges in South Jakarta District Court but his voice cracked as, asked to respond, he asserted his right to appeal. The conviction followed jail terms of 12 years and 15 years respectively given yesterday to a former police chief and a newspaper publisher determined to have joined Antasari in planning the murder. The sentences fell well short of the firing-squad outcome demanded by prosecutors, but critics said the bench had imposed even the 18-year term -- despite very little convincing evidence being presented -- only through fear of the political consequences of acquitting Antasari. The case has pitched the country's Corruption Eradication Commission, and Antasari since his sacking as its chief following his arrest, against some of Indonesia's most powerful political and legal forces -- in particular the police and Attorney-General's Department. Antasari has carried with him the force of certainty that he was the victim of a set-up. Clashes between his agency and the police have regularly bubbled into public animosity, suggesting the pursuit of Antasari could have been politically motivated. There is also the fact that questions about the publisher's motive in the Nasrudin murder have never been adequately answered. The former South Jakarta police chief Wiliardi, sentenced to 12 years yesterday, admitted in an earlier hearing being forced to put his name to an untrue confession that implicated Antasari. Wiliardi was found guilty of helping Antasari organise the hit to avoid having the sexual relationship Antasari was allegedly conducting with the victim's mistress being made public. Wiliardi was yesterday found guilty of having organised the Nasrudin killing after being introduced to Antasari by newspaper publisher Sigid Haryo Wibisono. The publisher said in his evidence that the senior policeman had hoped Antasari could use his contacts to win him a promotion. A go-between in the murder, Jerry Hermawan, was yesterday sentenced to five years' jail, down from the 15 years demanded by prosecutors. Five other men have already been sentenced to between 17 and 18 years' jail each for their roles
