Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced two subordinates of Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to three years in prison each for accepting kickbacks in a bribery case related to the funding scheme of the Infrastructure Development Acceleration Program (PPID).

In two different trials on Thursday, the judges found the secretary of the ministry's directorate general for development of transmigration areas I Nyoman Suisnaya and head of evaluation and report unit at another directorate Dadong Irbarelawan, guilty of accepting Rp 1.5 billion in bribes from a Papuan based company.

"The defendant is proven guilty and therefore we sentence him to three years in prison and order him to pay Rp 100 million in fines or he must serve an additional three months' imprisonment," presiding judge Sudjatmiko said in Nyoman's trial.

However, the judges disagreed with the prosecutors' charging of the suspects with taking kickbacks under Article 12 "point b" of the 2001 Anti-Corruption Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Both panels of judges, presided by Sudjatmiko and Herdi Agusten, found them guilty of violating a different article, Article 5 (2) of the law, which carries a maximum of 5 years imprisonment.

Previously, the prosecutors demanded the court sentence Nyoman to five years in jail and Dadong to four years and six months.

The two panels of judges concluded that the two were barred from receiving any gifts or cash in their capacity as a public official.

The bribery case made headlines after Nyoman and Dadong were allegedly caught accepting Rp 1.5 billion in bribes from businesswoman Dharnawati of PT Papua Alam Jaya on Aug. 25 last year.

The cash was part of Rp 2 billion to be paid by Dharnawati to win an infrastructure project in four areas in Papua which used the PPID fund scheme. Dharnawati had yet to supply the remaining Rp 500 million.

Dharnawati is now serving two years and six months in prison.