Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto urged Monday Indonesian judges to stop being too soft on graft convicts, alluding that the business tycoon Harvey Moeis deserves a longer jail time.
According to Prabowo, these wrongdoers even deserve to stay in prison for decades, especially if their crimes have caused hundreds of trillions of rupiahs in state losses. The president's remark came not long after the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Harvey to imprisonment for just six and a half years. His incarceration is incredibly short, considering that the losses from the tin-mining corruption scandal that Harvey was part of totaled about Rp 300 trillion ($18.5 billion). These losses were primarily a result of the environmental damages from illegal mining activities.
Harvey's short prison sentence sparked public backlash. Prabowo, too, felt that the judges could have given graft convicts harsher sentences, although he did not explicitly mention Harvey's name.
"Please, judges. Don't give these criminals a sentence that is way too light. They [people] will say that Prabowo does not understand how the law works. The people, even those living on the streets, understand [how unfair the verdict is]," Prabowo told a government meeting in Jakarta.
"People will say that [this person] steals hundreds of trillions of rupiahs, but look here, he only has to be in jail for several years. What if there is an air conditioner, a fridge or even a television in his prison cell. So please," Prabowo said.
He even told the Attorney General's Office to file an appeal so Harvey could get a longer prison sentence.
"Have you filed an appeal?... Try asking for a 50-year sentence," Prabowo said.
"Our people today are not stupid. They are smart, and everyone have gadgets," Prabowo said, alluding that the commonfolk could easily keep up on these graft cases.
Harvey, who is also the husband to actress Sandra Dewi, got a 6.5 year sentence instead and a Rp 210 billion fine. If he fails to pay them, Harvey will have his prison term extended by another two years or have his personal assets seized. He also gets an additional Rp 1 billion fine or another six months behind bars. The Attorney General's Office have filed an appeal over Harvey's light sentence.