"This is a moment for the Democrat Party to recover its reputation and free itself from negative rumours that have now been proven to be not true," Democrat Party associate chairman Gede Pasek Suardika said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The ruling Democrat Party hailed the verdict of the corruption court here on Friday, which held that Nazaruddin`s bribery case was not linked to the party`s congress.

The corruption court sentenced former party treasurer Nazaruddin to four years and 10 months of jail after he was proven guilty of taking bribes worth Rp4.6 billion from PT Duta Graha Indah (DGI), in connection with the SEA Games` Athlete Village construction project.

He was also fined Rp200 million and got four months more in jail for failing to pay it.

Democrat Party associate chairman Gede Pasek Suardika said: "We are glad and relieved that the judges in the corruption court declared the bribery in the Athlete Village project to be not linked with the party`s congress."

In a telephone interview, Gede Pasek said the court`s ruling proved the negative accusations on the party to be false.

"This is a moment for the Democrat Party to recover its reputation and free itself from negative rumours that have now been proven to be not true," he stated.

Gede Pasek said the party leadership had already clarified that the case was not linked with the party`s congress.

He explained that the congress took place in May 2010 in Bandung, while the bribery occurred in February 2011.

"We have already given clarification, but Nazaruddin continued spreading negative rumours, causing a war of rumours. However, with the ruling of the judges in the corruption court, all the rumours have proven to be not true," Gede Pasek said.

In view of that, he called on all parties, including party cadres and the public, to wipe out their negative perception and trust the party again.

Regarding the jail sentence of only four years and 10 months for Nazaruddin, Gede Pasek said that it was "relative".

"The sentence was relative. It could be seen as severe or light. After hearing the sentence, Nazaruddin even reacted with smiles," he said.

The sentence was lighter than the prosecutor`s demand for seven years in jail and a fine of Rp300 million on Nazaruddin.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012