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An Indonesian court has sentenced a former speaker of parliament to 15 years in prison for his role in the theft of $170m of public funds, a victory for anti-corruption police fighting the country’s rampant corruption.
Setya Novanto, who also served as the chairman of the Golkar party, sat impassively as the guilty verdict and sentence were announced at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Novanto was among about 80 officials who used the introduction of a $440m electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012 to steal more than a third of the funds.
During the trial, Novanto denied any wrongdoing while also using his knowledge of the conspiracy to accuse other senior politicians in an unsuccessful attempt to gain leniency as an informant.
The head of a panel of five judges said Novanto would be fined 500 million rupiah ($36,000) and barred from public office for five years after serving his sentence.
Novanto said he would consider whether to launch an appeal.
