A video uploaded on June 19 on Youtube channel Kabar News contains false news claiming that the graft suspect in a government 4G telephony project have been sentenced to death by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

The video title said former communications and information minister Johnny G. Plate had been given the death penalty. This is false, as the trial of the former information minister only began on June 27, and is still underway. Furthermore the AGO has no authority to sentence a graft defendant as that decision is in the hands of the judges at a corruption court.

Prosecutors from the AGO last week accused Johnny of pocketing some Rp 17.8 billion (US$1.18 million) in kickbacks from inflated procurement in a government 4G telephony project, led by the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) under the auspices his office.

Reading out the indictment at the Jakarta Corruption Court, prosecutors charged Johnny with "violating Article 2 of the 2001 Corruption Law" for committing corruption, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a Rp 1 billion fine.

Prosecutors said the alleged corruption in the base transceiver stations (BTS) project had caused some Rp 8.1 trillion in state losses.

The AGO has confiscated Johnny's assets, namely three plots of land amounting to 11.7 hectares in Warloka village, East Nusa Tenggara, and a Land Rover automobile.

Johnny was the sixth person to be named a suspect in the case, with the AGO having...

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