Agus Triyono – Two activists from ultranationalist youth group Bendera have been sentenced to seven months in prison for failing to prove their allegations that members of the president's family and his election team embezzled Bank Century bailout funds.
The long-running and drama-filled libel case against the two men, Mustar Bonaventura and Ferdi Semaun, began in January.
The two claimed in November 2009 that several members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner circle and re-election campaign team accepted Rp 1.8 trillion ($203 million) in kickbacks from the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion government rescue of Bank Century.
Those who filed the suit included Yudhoyono's son Edhie Baskoro; Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for legal, political and security affairs; Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng; and Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for economic affairs.
In Indonesia, libel cases filed by private citizens can be taken up by prosecutors and lead to custodial sentences for respondents found to have seriously defamed plaintiffs. Libel cases can be reported to the police.
The panel of judges who heard the case read their verdict to the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday, saying that the activists had failed to provide evidence to support specific claims of embezzlement made to journalists.
Mustar and Ferdi immediately signaled their intention to appeal the sentence, saying the trial judges had made numerous legal errors.
"We have many complaints, among them that the court failed to note our opposition to the calling of an expert witness from PPATK [Financial Transaction and Reports Analysis Center]," Ferdi said.
He said the court also failed to refer to their written defense statement in its verdict. "In our defense statement, and in our verbal evidence, we clearly explained that Century funds flowed to the Democratic Party via a number of companies. Why wasn't that used, even though the facts were clear?" Ferdi said.
From the beginning of the case, Mustar, Ferdi and their supporters tried the patience of the court. At their initial hearing on Jan. 20, proceedings were held up for an hour as dozens of Bendera members protested outside the courthouse against the suit, which they called unfair.
Inside the courtroom, lawyers for Mustar and Ferdy told the judges that their clients refused to enter the courtroom unless their supporters were also allowed in. The panel of judges eventually relented and agreed to the condition.
Once the hearing finally began, Bendera supporters shouted insults at witnesses for the plaintiffs, including Djoko. When the presiding judge halted proceedings and ordered police to remove the Bendera members from the courtroom, a scuffle broke out with police, followed by a walkout by the two defendants and their lawyers.
Thursday's final verdict was met with scores of the pair's supporters yelling insults and slogans. Police dragged a number of them from the court.