Jakarta. Prosecutors on Wednesday recommended a 15-year prison sentence for former Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny Plate in connection with alleged corruption related to government internet infrastructure projects.

They also urged the defendant to return Rp 17.8 billion in misappropriated state assets and pay a fine of Rp 1 billion. In the event of non-repayment, the court should authorize the seizure of his personal assets for compensation. Prosecutors presented these demands sequentially during a hearing at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court.

In the event that the assets do not cover the full amount, prosecutors suggested an additional 7.5 years of jail time.

Johnny is accused of accepting bribes totaling Rp 17.8 billion ($1.2 million) from companies awarded contracts for building 4G Internet infrastructure in remote regions as part of the Communication Ministry's Information and Telecommunication Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) initiatives. BAKTI's former CEO, Anang Achmad Latif, is a co-defendant and received a recommended prison term of 18 years in a separate hearing.

According to the indictment, the project to construct 4G base transceiver stations (BTS) and other infrastructure in approximately 7,900 villages in remote areas was divided into multiple packages with substantial budgets allocated to the business entities responsible for the construction. The budget included Rp 2.9 trillion for the FiberHome, Telkominfra, and Multi Trans Data consortium, Rp 1.58 trillion for the Lintasarta, Huawei, and SEI consortium, and Rp 3.5 trillion for the IBS and ZTE consortium.

The project's objective was to provide cellular services at 4,200 sites by the end of 2021. However, as of March the previous year, only 958 sites had 4G BTS coverage.

Prosecutors estimated that the scandal caused a loss of Rp 8 trillion ($533.7 million) to the state. The indictment did not provide information regarding the progress of providing BTS for an additional 3,000 sites in 2022.

According to prosecutors, Johnny Plate requested a budget of Rp 25 trillion for the entire project while he held office in 2020.

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