Andreas D. Arditya, Jakarta – Senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan expressed "deep regret" during his bribery trial here Thursday for accepting money from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, but insisted the cash was not a bribe.

"I feel guilty for accepting the money from Artalyta. I deeply regret my actions. I also apologize to the court for my behavior and words during previous sessions," he told the Corruption Court.

However, Urip steadfastly refused to say that the US$660,000 he received from Artalyta was a bribe, insisting it was a loan for a car repair shop business.

Prosecutors of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will make their sentence demands for Urip next Thursday.

Urip's admission of guilt, statement of regret and his cooperation are among the main mitigating factors that a panel of judges may take into consideration in delivering a verdict.

Urip, who accepted the alleged bribe in his position as a state official, is facing a maximum 20 years' imprisonment for the crime.

At the Thursday court session he also admitted to giving Artalyta information about the Attorney General's Office (AGO) probe into a bank loan scandal involving tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

"It is true I gave information related to the investigation. It is also true that I knew Artalyta was a close relative of Sjamsul Nursalim," Urip told the court.

At the previous hearings, Urip had consistently denied the KPK charges against him and insisted he never gave Artalyta any information about progress in the investigation of Sjamsul.

Urip, who led the AGO's investigation of Sjamsul when the latter was accused of embezzling Bank Indonesia liquidity assistance funds (BLBI), is charged with taking a $660,000 bribe from Artalyta.

Last month, the Corruption Court convicted Artalyta of bribery and sentenced her to five years in jail. It was the maximum penalty possible for the crime after the panel of judges found no mitigating factors to reduce her sentence.

The court also said Artalyta had intended to stop the AGO's investigation into Sjamsul.

Sjamsul, former owner of the now defunct Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia, was implicated in the embezzlement of Rp 28.4 trillion ($3.1 billion) in BLBI funds.

Sjamsul remains the only of 37 witnesses who was able to evade three questioning sessions about his BLBI case during the investigation.

Urip also admitted he had brought all three AGO summonses for Sjamsul to Artalyta. "But she always told me to give the letters myself to Itjih Nursalim, Sjamsul's wife. So I sent the letters through a courier," said Urip.

He also said Artalyta once arranged a meeting between him and Itjih, but it never happened.

The major bribery case also implicated at least three senior AGO officials.

They include former deputy attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman, former director of special criminal investigations Muhammad Salim and former deputy attorney general for state administrative affairs Untung Udji Santoso.

They were later dismissed from their respective senior positions at the AGO.

During Artalyta's trial, the anti-graft court said the bribery case had damaged Indonesia's law enforcement system.