Indonesia sentences another former minister to 15 years for graft over internet tower project

By ACHMAD IBRAHIM and EDNA TARIGAN
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s anti-graft court on Wednesday sentenced a former Cabinet minister to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of corruption over the construction of mobile phone transmission towers in remote parts of the country. Johnny G. Plate, former communication and information technology minister, was arrested in May, after being questioned as part of an investigation by the attorney general’s office in Jakarta. He was apprehended along with five other suspects, including three from the private sector, after some 60 people were questioned about the procurement process. Plate is the fifth former minister from President Joko Widodo’s administration to be charged and sentenced for corruption.