Jakarta. Former North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin died during treatment at a Jakarta hospital on Monday at the age of 71.

His younger brother, Syah Afandin, told Antara news agency that Syamsul passed away at 12:45 p.m. and will be buried in his hometown Langkat in North Sumatra.

Syamsul was the first elected governor in the province when the country adopted direct elections for regents, mayors, governors, and the president in 2008.

However, he only served as governor for three years, after being detained for a corruption case in 2011 related to budget misuse when he was serving two terms as the regent of Langkat from 1999-2008. 

Syamsul was officially dismissed from his gubernatorial post by then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2012 after the Supreme Court upheld his graft conviction. 

His defense attempts backfired at every level. After he was sentenced to two years in prison, he appealed to the High Court only to get his jail time increased to four years. His last appeal to the Supreme Court resulted in a harsher prison sentence of six years.

Prior to the 2008 gubernatorial election, Syamsul was ousted by the Golkar Party which had a different nominee and opposed his candidacy, but he managed to receive support from rival parties to contest and win the election. 

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