Law

As explained in the previous article, Tom Lembong’s appearance to the public caused commotion. But the public actually know that each presidential and vice presidential candidate has oligarchic support even before Jatam published their latest press release and website, therefore this topic will not attract that much attention if the parties did not decide to hold a public feud. What is interesting for us is a different question from several parties, has Tom Lembong—during his time as head of BKPM—ever made any destructive decisions?

Thomas Trikasih Lembong (known by his peers as Tom Lembong) who was once a beloved Minister, had been named a graft suspect. Just days after the new administration was inaugurated, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) revealed a new investigation they were conducting into alleged corruption related to sugar imports and Tom was named suspect in his capacity as then Minister of Trade. The public know that Tom was the co-captain of the AMIN National Team, a national team formed to endorse the 2024 presidential and vice presidential candidate pair, Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar. Back then, with his charming appearance and articulate speaking style, Tom quickly gained popularity among young people and first-time voters, that said, now the public is wondering, is there a political motivation behind this investigation?

The drafting process of the Bill on Forfeiture of Criminal Assets has been started since 2008. The goal is noble, so that the criminals who have caused losses to the State will lose the proceeds of their crimes and State losses can be recovered immediately. But the road to get the Bill passed wasn’t easy. In mid-2023, the Government announced motivating progress. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has sent a letter (Surat Presiden – Surpres) to the House of Representatives asking for the Bill to be discussed immediately, but the President’s request has been ignored even until the end of his term. This week, one week after the new administration was inaugurated, a discouraging news was made known: the Bill is no longer proposed on the list of National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

Over three years ago, legal counsel of Vinmar Overseas Ltd, Budidjaja law firm, placed an announcement in the national newspaper, stating the planned execution of assets of PT Sumi Asih/PT Sumi Asih Oleochemical Industry. The dispute was among the longest legal disputes in the country, involving various overseas jurisdictions. We already thought it’ll be difficult for the law firm to conduct the execution. We’re right. The highly complex legal dispute resulted in the determination of senior and prominent advocate, Tony Budidjaja, as a suspect on suspicion of false accusations. Tony faces his first hearing of the trial in Oct. 29, 2024.

Zarof Ricar was not the first case broker who happened to work for the Supreme Court. Before this case was uncovered, there were dozens of registrars and Supreme Court’s employee who had received bribes, arrested and even convicted for their involvement in various crimes. Below is a list of the perpetrators and their crimes known within the past decade.

As predicted, after announcing the new investigation on the case of alleged bribery involving the three members of the Panel of Judges who acquitted Gregorius Ronald Tannur, the Attorney Generals’ Office (AGO) immediately announced the development of the investigation. Towards the end of last week, the AGO mentioned that they had named two suspects in a case of alleged evil conspiracy in graft, one of whom is a former employee of the Supreme Court. This is not a surprising announcement, honestly, but the surprising part is because the AGO was able to secure nearly Rp1 trillion from the former employee’s safe, all of which was acknowledged as the proceeds of his crimes since 2012. The Supreme Court is to blame.

Towards the end of 2023, Dini Sera Afrianti lost her life at the hands of her own lover, Gregorius Ronald Tannur. This case was previously unknown to the public until it was revealed on social media that Ronald was the son of Edward Tannur, a PKB politician and member...

After facing various lawsuits for Suspension of Debt Payment (PKPU), with the threat of being delisted from the stock exchange since 2020, textile giant PT Sri Rejeki Isman Tbk (SRIL or Sritex) and its subsidiaries has been declared bankrupt, at last. The past four...

After the inauguration ceremony conducted through a plenary session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Oct. 20, 2024, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka officially became President and Vice President of Indonesia for the 2024-2029 period. After the inauguration, President Prabowo announced the composition of his makeover cabinet consisting of 48 Ministers and five ministerial-level officials, and 56 Deputy Ministers. Among the names mentioned, some are Ministers and Deputy Ministers who will be responsible for legal sector.

After going through a rather chaotic political turned personal drama and accompanied by criticism from many parties, on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka were finally officially inaugurated. This inauguration ended the 10-year administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, but before his term ended, President Jokowi had issued several important regulations that would support the duties of the new administration, including changing the provisions in the Law on State Ministries. With this change, the number of ministries which was previously limited to only 34 can now be adjusted to suit needs. This change in regulations was utilized by the new administration with the Red and White Cabinet (Kabinet Merah Putih) which was composed of 48 ministries, consisting of seven coordinating ministries and 41 technical ministries. Among these changes, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and its Coordinating Ministry also experienced drastic makeover.