Tax official Gayus Tambunan (centre) is escorted by police officers as he arrives at a district court for his corruption trial in Jakarta. -- PHOTO: AP
JAKARTA - AN INDONESIAN court on Wednesday sentenced a low-level tax official who admits to causing hundreds of millions of dollars in state losses to seven years in jail, well short of the 20 years sought by prosecutors.
Gayus Tambunan, 31, was convicted of bribing officials, abuse of power and using false documents in a case that has shocked and enthralled the South-east Asian country for almost a year.
Indonesians have grown to expect nothing but the worst from corrupt institutions like the police and tax department, but Tambunan's exploits stunned even this graft-ridden nation.
The case has exposed a vast web of corruption allegedly involving top police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens and corporate taxpayers including companies linked to powerful politicians.
It has also savaged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's image as tough on corruption and highlighted his weakness in the face of vested interests who run what he refers to as the 'court mafia' in the heart of the nation's judiciary.
Wearing a brown batik shirt, Tambunan listened intently and showed little emotion as the judges read out the verdict. 'I respect the sentence as the judges considered everything ... The prosecutors' recommendation was totally outrageous. They just wanted revenge,' he told the court. -- AFP
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