Bandung. Former House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto has been released on parole after serving two-thirds of his reduced prison sentence, officials confirmed on Sunday.

Setya was convicted in 2018 for his role in the multi-trillion-rupiah electronic ID (e-KTP) corruption scandal and originally sentenced to 15 years in prison. His prison time was calculated from his pre-trial detention in 2017.

In June, the Supreme Court reduced his sentence to 12.5 years, while upholding an order to repay $7.3 million to the state. Over the years, he also received several sentence reductions from Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung for good behavior.

“As of now, Setya Novanto has served two-thirds of his sentence and therefore meets the requirements for parole,” said Kusnali, head of the West Java Corrections Department.

The 69-year-old politician was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in 2017. State auditors estimated that the graft scheme caused Rp 2.3 trillion ($142.6 million) in state losses from the Rp 5.9 trillion ($365.9 million) project. Seven other defendants, including businessmen and senior Home Affairs Ministry officials, were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 15 years.

Setya spent much of his political career as a senior Golkar Party figure. He was appointed House speaker in 2014 through the Merah Putih Coalition, which opposed then-President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ruling alliance.

His career was marred by controversy. In 2015, Setya resigned as speaker after being caught on tape demanding shares from Freeport Indonesia. Yet just months later, he secured the Golkar chairmanship and shifted the party’s support toward Jokowi’s government. Golkar reinstated him as House speaker in late 2016, but he was forced to step down again following his arrest in November 2017.

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