An Indonesian court today sentenced a politician to four years and 10 months in a corruption case that has rocked the country’s ruling party.

Muhammad Nazaruddin was found guilty of receiving a bribe of 4.6 billion rupiah (US$501,400) for awarding a company the right to build an athletes’ village for last year’s South-East Asian Games.

Nazaruddin, who was a legislator and treasurer for the ruling Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before he was indicted, was also ordered to pay a fine of 200 million rupiah.

Nazaruddin, 32, made headlines when he fled Indonesia last year after being named as a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission.

After weeks of an international manhunt involving Interpol, he was arrested by Colombian police in the city of Cartagena on Aug 7.

While on the run, he sent text messages to the media and appeared on television via an Internet video link accusing other top Democrat Party officials, including chairperson Anas Urbaningrum and Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, of taking part in corruption.

Urbaningrum and Mallarangeng have denied the accusations.

In August, the Corruption Eradication Commission said Nazaruddin was implicated in corruption cases involving government projects worth 6 trillion rupiah.

The allegations raised questions about the source of the party’s funding and Susilo’s pledge to root out endemic corruption in the country.

Under electoral laws, Susilo is not eligible to run for a third term, but analysts say the corruption scandal could make it difficult for the Democratic Party to convince voters in 2014 elections even for another candidate.

- dpa