Mochtar was found guilty of accepting more than US $3.37 million in bribes to tamper with the results of at least 10 local elections while he served as head judge, and with laundering more than US $15.2 million from 2002 until his arrest in October 2013, reports ABC News. He had become the chief judge of Indonesia’s highest court in April 2013.
This is the harshest sentence ever given an official for corruption, in Indonesia, reports Deutsche Welle.
Mochtar was arrested at his home last October as he was about to receive US $250,000 from a businessman and a lawmaker.
The former judge described the verdict as unfair and said he would appeal, said Deutsche Welle.
Prosecutors also wanted Mochtar to pay a US $840,000 fine, but the five-member panel of the anti-corruption court rejected this because the maximum penalty had already been given, writes ABC News.
Presiding judge Suwidya said that Mochtar “as chief of the highest institution, the last bastion for justice seekers” should have set a good example.
Mochtar’s sentencing is the latest in a series of corruption scandals to plague Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won the presidency in 2004 on an anti-corruption platform, reports Reuters.
