JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A civil servant, Niwen Khairiah, convicted of money laundering involving Rp 1.3 trillion is finally behind bars. Niwen was arrested by the executing prosecutor in Jakarta on Thursday (2/2) morning and was then flown to Pekanbaru, Riau, to be handed over to Gobah women’s and children’s prison in Pekanbaru.
Niwen was returned to prison having been released in June 2015. At that time, the Pekanbaru Corruption Court found Niwen not guilty of money laundering. She then disappeared, even though the Supreme Court overruled that ruling.
Riau Prosecutor’s Office special crime assistant Sugeng Rianta said he had been informed two weeks ago that Niwen’s sentence had not been imposed. His office then coordinated with the Pekanbaru Prosecutor’s Office, as the party responsible for carrying out the Supreme Court ruling.
On Feb. 17, 2016, the cassation panel led by Artidjo Alkostar ruled in favor of the prosecutor and sentenced Niwen to 10 years in prison. The Supreme Court also ordered Niwen to pay Rp 6.6 billion in compensation.
Following the ruling, the Pekanbaru Prosecutor’s Office waited for Niwen to turn herself in. As she did not surrender immediately, a team was deployed to track her whereabouts; she was finally found in Jakarta.
“From our monitoring over the past 10 days, we found out that Niwen was in Jakarta,” Sugeng said.
Although Niwen was now in prison, the Pekanbaru Prosecutor’s Office would continue its supervision and investigate the slow implementation of the sentence. Sugeng said it would take time to come to a final conclusion. He said his office was collecting information and assessing several documents.
A copy of the Supreme Court ruling was sent to the Pekanbaru Corruption Court on Aug. 1, 2016. The local prosecutor was informed of the ruling on Aug. 15, 2016.
Supreme Court legal and public relations bureau judge Witanto said the head of the Pekanbaru Corruption Court had confirmed receipt of the copy of the ruling. Therefore, it was the responsibility of the prosecutor to imprison the convict.
In fact, there is no need to wait a copy of a ruling to impose the sentence. A brief version of a ruling can be used as a legal basis for a verdict to be imposed.
However, the prosecutors often refuse to act without a copy of the ruling, referring to Article 270 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that the prosecutor shall wait for a copy of the ruling before executing the sentence.
Dismissal
Batam city Legislative Council Commission I chair Nyangyang Haris said there was no reason to delay Niwen’s dismissal as a civil servant. Niwen had been imprisoned in Pekanbaru, Riau. “Do not delay her dismissal again. Her case is clear and the punishment exceeds the minimum limit for dismissal,” he noted.
Batam city administration spokesperson Ardi Winata said his office had not received official information of Niwen’s sentence being carried out. To date, information of her arrest in Jakarta and transfer to Pekanbaru had been from social media.
Niwen’s case was handed over by the National Police Criminal Investigation Department to the Pekanbaru prosecutor’s office. Niwen, along with Ahmad Mahbub, Aguan alias Danun, Ahmad Arifin and Yusri, was involved in illegal oil trading and was tried at Pekanbaru Corruption Court. The location of the trial was based on the location of the oil stolen by the syndicate, which had been led by Mahbub, Niwen’s older brother.
It was found that the syndicate had stolen oil from Pertamina in Riau and sold it to many buyers. Most of the transactions were made at sea and the buyers were vessels flying foreign flags.
In addition to Niwen, others were convicted and imprisoned. Yusri received 15 years’ imprisonment and Aguan 17. Yusri and Aguan also had to pay Rp 72.4 billion compensation.
(REK/IAN/RAZ)
