Indonesia nearly triples lawmaker's graft sentence

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesia's highest court heightened Thursday nearly tripled to 12 years the sentence of a former ruling party lawmaker convicted of accepting $3.6 million in kickbacks from a construction project.

An anti-corruption court in January had sentenced Angelina Sondakh of the Democratic Party to 4 1/2 years in jail. The case involved construction of a housing complex for athletes at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games.

A high court upheld the sentence, but state prosecutors who sought a 12-year sentence appealed to Supreme Court.

Supreme Court judge Artidjo Alkostar said in a statement reported Thursday by local newspaper Kompas that the court extended the jail term and fined her to pay $43,400 given her active role in the bribery.

In its Wednesday's ruling, the court also obliged her to repay a total of $3.45 million to the state or to serve five more years in jail.

"Angelina was very proactive in asking for bribes," Alkostar said. "Her role was very significant."

Sondakh has denied any wrongdoing. She was a lawmaker from 2004 until being arrested in 2012 and had campaigned against corruption.

The cases which underline Indonesia's challenge in changing its graft-ridden image have threatened the credibility of the party's founder, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose 2009 campaign for re-election presented him as the "Mr. Clean" of Indonesian politics.

Hundreds of people have been arrested for alleged corruption since Yudhoyono took office, though critics note high-ranking officials have largely been left alone.

According to advocacy group Transparency International's corruption index, Indonesia ranks 118th out of 176 countries polled, down from 100th out of 183 the year before.