International brief ~ Former Indonesian elections chief guilty on corruption charges News
International brief ~ Former Indonesian elections chief guilty on corruption charges

[JURIST] Leading Wednesday's international brief, Former Indonesian acting secretary-general of the General Elections Commission (KPU) [official website in Bahasa Indonesian] Sussongko Sahardjo has been found guilty on charges of corruption and bribery [JURIST report] and is facing sentencing that could result in nearly 13 years incarceration. Prosecutors from Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) [official website in Bahasa Indonesian] asked the Anti-Corruption Court to sentence Sahardjo to the maximum allowed punishment, including compensation to the government, which, if Sahardjo and his co-defendant cannot pay, would result in four years extra incarceration above the eight years already requested. The court has not specified when it will release its sentencing ruling. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.

In other international legal news …

  • The National Elections Commission of Liberia [official website] reported that a preliminary tally of votes cast in the November 8 presidential election has been completed and has put Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf [party profile] of the Unity Party in the lead with 59.4 percent of the vote. If confirmed as President, Johnson-Sirleaf will be the first female head-of-state on the African continent. The official certification of the vote will not occur until November 23 and the NEC has already announced that a public hearing will be held to investigate complaints from the Congress for Democratic Change party [official website], which has already demanded that the election results be overturned and has threatened to not seat any of its members of parliament if Johnson-Sirleaf is confirmed as president. Nearly thirty accredited international electoral observer missions [NEC list] watched the elections, and all of the reports released so far have praised the electoral process as fair, transparent, and peaceful. View the official NEC preliminary results. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Liberia [JURIST news archive]. The Liberian Times has local coverage.