Former Indonesian agriculture minister sentenced to 10 years for corruption

abcnews.go.com:

Indonesia’s anti-graft court has sentenced a former agriculture minister to 10 years in prison for extortion, abuse of power and bribery involving ministry contracts with private vendors

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s anti-graft court sentenced a former agriculture minister to 10 years in prison Thursday after finding him guilty of corruption-related extortion, abuse of power and bribery involving ministry contracts with private vendors.

Syahrul Yasin Limpo is the sixth member of President Joko Widodo’s Cabinet to be sentenced to prison in a corruption case, casting a shadow over his efforts to clean up government in the closing months of his administration.

The court in the capital, Jakarta, ruled that the former minister was guilty of abusing his power by enriching himself and other officials. It also ordered him to pay a 300 million rupiah ($18,500) fine, and said he would be subject to another four months’ imprisonment if he fails to pay.

“The defendant has legally and convincingly been proven guilty of corruption,” presiding Judge Rianto Adam Pontoh said. “He wasn’t a good example as a public official, what he has done is counter the government’s efforts to fight corruption and enriched himself by corruption."

Limpo had been arrested last October by the Corruption Eradication Commission, known as the KPK. He has denied wrongdoing.

Several ministry officials testified during the trial that secretariats, directorates general and agencies within the ministry was required to give up 20% of their budgets to Limpo, as though they were indebted to him, and he threated their jobs if they rejected his demands. Vendors and suppliers were also asked to set aside money to fulfill the then-minister’s demands, the trial