7-Year Sentence for Former Prosecutor Azam: Proof of Law Enforcement Without Discrimination
Jakarta – Indonesia’s fight against corruption has once again shown its strength. The Corruption Crimes Court (Tipikor) sentenced former West Jakarta District Attorney’s Office prosecutor, Azam Akhmad Akhsya, to seven years in prison after he was found guilty of abusing his authority in the fraudulent Robot Trading Fahrenheit investment case.
Presiding Judge Sunoto, who led the sentencing hearing, declared that Azam was legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing corruption. He was charged under Article 12 letter e of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption Crimes.
“The defendant is sentenced to seven years in prison and fined IDR 250 million. If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with three months of imprisonment,” Judge Sunoto stated firmly in his ruling.
The panel of judges highlighted that Azam’s actions not only violated the law but also betrayed his oath of office as a prosecutor. “The defendant’s actions did not support the government’s program to establish a clean government free from corruption, collusion, and nepotism,” Judge Sunoto added.
Furthermore, the judge emphasized that Azam’s actions created a negative precedent and damaged public trust in the Attorney General’s Office as the final bastion of justice. He was also deemed to have abused public trust.
In the previous session, the Public Prosecutor (JPU) had demanded a four-year prison sentence and a fine of IDR 250 million for Azam. However, the judges imposed a heavier sentence, handing down a seven-year prison term.
Azam was charged with embezzling IDR 11.7 billion in evidence funds from the 2023 Fahrenheit investment fraud case. His method was to manipulate the amount of money returned to victims represented by lawyers Bonifasius Gunung, Oktavianus Setiawan, and Brian Erik First Anggitya.
“The defendant and witness Oktavianus Setiawan agreed to manipulate the return of evidence funds to victims of the Fahrenheit robot trading investment scheme by pretending to return approximately IDR 17.8 billion to the Bali group,” stated the prosecutor in the indictment.
From this scheme, Azam received IDR 3 billion from Bonifasius Gunung’s group, IDR 8.5 billion from Oktavianus’ group, and IDR 200 million from Brian Erik. These funds were used to purchase property, insurance policies, deposits, and finance an umrah pilgrimage.
After the verdict was read, neither Azam nor his legal counsel made a definitive statement. “We are still considering it, Your Honor,” said the defendant’s lawyer.
This ruling reinforces that law enforcement against corrupt individuals, including members of law enforcement themselves, will not be subject to preferential treatment. The government and legal apparatus continue to demonstrate their seriousness in establishing a clean, transparent, and accountable system.
