JAKARTA, (Reuters) – An Indonesian court today sentenced former agriculture minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo to 10 years in prison for corruption involving travel in private jets and jewellery for his wife.
Prosecutors said Limpo extorted officials at the Ministry of Agriculture of more than 44 billion rupiah ($2.72 million) to pay for his personal spending.
Limpo was also fined 300 million rupiah and ordered to pay around 14.6 billion rupiah in compensation, head judge Rianto Adam Pontoh said, as broadcast on news channel KompasTV.
Television images after the verdict showed Limpo speaking to reporters. He denied wrongdoing although he said he respected the court’s decision, adding the verdict was “a consequence of my work.”
Limpo’s lawyer, Djamaludin Koedoeboen, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Two other defendants in the case, former senior officials at the agriculture ministry, were each sentenced to a term of four years in prison.
Limpo was the sixth minister in President Joko Widodo’s cabinet to face charges of corruption.
Earlier this year, a former communications minister was sentenced to 15 year in jail on corruption charges. Jokowi’s social affairs and fisheries ministers were jailed in 2021.
