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JAKARTA, July 23 (Reuters) A former Indonesian cabinet minister was jailed for seven years today after being found guilty of receiving more than $1 million in illegal pay-offs, his lawyer said.
Judges at Indonesia's special anti-corruption court found former fisheries and maritime affairs minister Rokhmin Dahuri guilty of receiving about 15 billion rupiah (1.65 million dollars) in cash from sources inside and outside the ministry, lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said.
Dahuri was also ordered to pay 200 million rupiah or serve an additional six months in prison.
Two members of the five-judge panel offered dissenting opinions.
Assegaf said Dahuri, who served between 2001-2004, was innocent and would appeal.
He argued that his client had not received the money for personal gain, and that using non-budgetary funds to finance official activities was common practice in Indonesian ministries.
''But Rokhmin is an honest man and he was transparent.
Unlike others, he kept a record of all the money his office received and that proved to be his undoing,'' he said.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the country's first direct election in October 2004 on a pledge to end corruption.
Experts have consistently rated Indonesia as among the world's most corrupt nations.
Since Yudhoyono's high-profile anti-graft campaign started, officials ranging from a former religious affairs minister to the governor of Aceh province have been jailed on corruption charges.
($1 = 9,070 rupiah) REUTERS JK VC1712


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