Heru Andriyanto – After months of allegations and counter allegations, controversial police Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji was sentenced on Thursday to three and a half years in jail for two corruption cases brought against him after he blew the whistle on graft and case-brokering within the National Police.

Prosecutors had asked for a seven-year jail term. Immediately after the ruling, Susno went to appeal the ruling. "I can't accept the verdict and have already registered my appeal," he said afterwards.

"This is not fair," complained his wife, Herawati. "My husband got a heavier sentence than the case broker. We will appeal. Never retreat, that is our motto."

Susno, 54, was accused of taking a Rp 500 million ($57,000) bribe in his handling of a legal dispute involving the Salmah Arowana Lestari fish farm and of embezzling Rp 8 billion from the security fund for elections in West Java while serving as the provincial police chief.

The panel of judges said the bribery cases could not be separated from the cases involving lawyer Haposan Hutagalung, who provided the Rp 500 million bribe, and former diplomat and alleged case broker Sjahril Djohan, who channeled the money to Susno in December 2008.

"This corruption case is related to and cannot be separated from the two cases of Haposan Hutagalung and Sjahril Djohan, who have been proven guilty by the law," presiding judge Charis Mardiyanto said. Haposan was jailed for seven years, while Sjahril received just 18 months.

On the election security fund, the panel said prosecutors proved Susno had ordered the head of West Java Police finances to embezzle money from funds distributed to district and municipal police stations, with recipients asked to sign receipts for higher amounts than they received.

"The actual overall spending was Rp 19 billion, but the defendant, who was in charge of the budget, reported that nearly all the budget of Rp 27 billion had been used and only Rp 2 million was left in surplus," Charis said.

Susno collected Rp 8.46 billion, which he then used to buy traveler's checks, foreign currency, a Toyota Camry for his official vehicle and pay off top officers and other officials in the provincial police.

"All that had nothing to do with the security of the governor and vice governor elections in West Java," the panel said.

The court also ordered Susno to return Rp 4 billion in stolen assets or his personal wealth would be seized, and it fined him Rp 200 million or face an additional six months in jail.

In March last year, the former chief of detectives shocked the nation with his public allegations that two police generals had acted as brokers in their handling of a money-laundering case involving a rogue tax official.

His remarks prompted police to launch an investigation and name at least nine suspects in connection with the scandal. Two months later, Susno himself was arrested on graft charges linked to the fish farm case. The accusation linked to the electoral fund was added later.

Susno's lawyer, Henry Yosodiningrat, criticized the judges for mainly using testimonies from two witnesses, Sjahril and Maman Abdurrahman – former finance head of the West Java Police – while ignoring other facts. "You journalists are smarter than those judges," he said.