The irony was almost overwhelming when we first reported that 18 people in the Indonesian province of Riau had been named suspects in a case of graft related to the creation of an anti-graft monument in the city of Pekanbaru nearly one year ago. The case has moved slowly since but authorities are now getting ready to put more of the anti-corruption construction corruption schemers on trial.
Yesterday, Riau’s High Prosecutor’s Office announced that they had placed three of the 18 suspects in holding as they await their upcoming trial. All three were identified as civil servants working in the province and were heavily involved in the anti-graft monument project.
“We are keeping them in custody for the next 20 days,” Riau High Prosecutor’s Office Special Crimes Assistant Subekhan told Merdeka.
The three suspects face up to 20 years in prison for using their authority to misappropriate state funds.
Six of the 18 have already been convicted of corruption, with the longest sentence given to one convict who received three years in prison. The nine remaining suspects are not currently in police custody but are expected to also be placed in holding soon.
“We’re still evaluating the other suspects. We’re waiting on the official decisions of the relevant officials,” Subekhan said.
The monument is the centerpiece of the Integrity Monument Park in Riau, which opened to the public on International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, 2016. It was supposed to stand as a symbol of the fight against graft in both Riau, which has seen three of its governors arrested by the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK), as well as throughout Indonesia, with a sign that reads “A park that shows how to teach integrity”.
But in November 2017, the Riau High Prosecutor’s Office named 18 suspects for allegedly colluding to illegally profit off of the park’s construction, so it looks like the only thing the park will teach people is the meaning of irony.
Based on the prosecutor’s investigation, it is estimated that about IDR1.23 billion (US$91,000) out of the IDR8 billion budget for the park was siphoned off and split between the suspects.
Among the suspects is one of the then-governor’s advisors, who was previously head of the Riau Public Works Department, as well as 12 civil servants, two contractors and three supervising consultants.
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