Jakarta. Former Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny Gerard Plate received a 15-year prison sentence on Wednesday for his involvement in a corruption case related to a government project aimed at developing internet infrastructure in remote regions.

The Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court's panel of judges also ordered Johnny to repay Rp 15.5 billion ($988,000) of the embezzled funds and imposed a fine of Rp 1 billion.

The imposed prison term aligns with the prosecution's request.

"The defendant has not only failed to support the government's anti-corruption campaign but has also refused to admit wrongdoing," Presiding Judge Fahzal Hendri said during the sentencing hearing.

The panel acknowledged certain mitigating factors in Johnny's case, such as his good behavior during the legal proceedings, his role as the primary breadwinner for his family, and the fact that he reportedly used a portion of the illicit funds for charitable purposes.

This high-profile corruption case, according to state auditors, resulted in a state loss of Rp 8 trillion ($510 million). It involved at least six defendants, including officials from the Communication and Informatics Ministry and businessmen.

Johnny, 67, is a senior politician from the National Democratic Party (Nasdem). He marked the first active cabinet member to face corruption allegations from the Attorney General's Office before he was later removed from his ministerial job.

In recent developments, prosecutors arrested state auditor Achsanul Qosasi, one of the nine members of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), on suspicion of accepting tens of billions of rupiah in bribe money related to the project.

In another twist, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Dito Ariotedjo appeared as a witness in a court hearing following reports that he had accepted Rp 27 billion from the project and subsequently returned the funds to the Attorney General's Office.

The multi-year project aimed to establish base transceiver stations for a 4G internet network, covering thousands of villages in remote areas of Indonesia. It was initiated by the ministry's Information and Telecommunication Accessibility Agency (BAKTI).

Anang Achmad Latif, BAKTI's former CEO, was also a co-defendant and received an 18-year prison sentence in a separate hearing held earlier in the day.

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