Eleven poker players, who were found guilty of gambling on the social networking site Facebook, were sentenced to four months and 10 days in prison at Medan District Court on Tuesday.

The verdict was read out by the three presiding judges – Agus Setiawan, L.Sinurat and Rumintang – in three different sessions, which began at around 11 a.m.

Agus Setiawan said the defendants had violated Article 303 of the Criminal Code for their involvement in gambling. Prosecutors Sani Sianturi and Juliana Tarihoran had previously sought a seven-month sentence for each gambler.

Of the 11 defendants, seven were poker players and the other four were operators and cashiers who traded the online chips.

The seven poker players were identified as: A Seng, aka M. Ikhsan; Eman, aka Liang Sun; Haris Pratama Putra; Hendry, aka A Hen; Kesuma Wijaya Sidauruk; M Nasir Dalimunthe, aka Aldo; and M. Zulfikar.

The four others were identified as: Edi, aka A Wie, who was an Internet shop cashier; Bun Seng, aka A Seng; Deni Agriawan; and Herwin, aka A Cong, all of whom acted as operators and transferred gaming chips.

The judges also ruled that Rp 7 million (US$735) in evidence would be confiscated by the state, while the 33 computers and other documents, seized at the Supernet Internet Cafe, would be destroyed.