Earlier this year the trial of the remaining suspects involved in the PT Asuransi Sosial Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia (Persero) (familiarly known as PT ASABRI) corruption scandal continued, as the prosecutors expedited the docket of suspect Teddy...

It has been over seven years since we witness one of the worst forest fires ever happened in Indonesia. The situation forced the Government to take extra measures, including legal efforts. Far from media coverage, the battle continues to this day. Three years ago, the Palangka Raya district court announced declared one of the corporate suspects, PT Arjuna Utama Sawit (PT AUS), guilty. Although PT AUS is not an ordinary company, recently, the Supreme Court decided to upheld the decision of the district Court.

After the shareholders fighting each other in disputes for more than five years, the Supreme Court finally gave a decision in favor of Lani and Elliana Wibowo. However, the decision did not immediately end the dispute. Several years later, earlier this year, PT Big Bird filed another lawsuit.

PT Blue Bird Tbk (BIRD), its subsidiaries, and the parties around the companies have gone through a share ownership disputes since 2013. We recorded dozens of similar lawsuits filed at the South Jakarta District Court, this is of course not including the other lawsuits filed in other district court. The last time we report on the “development” was in 2018, at the time there were ongoing disputes but examinations continue far from media coverage and we haven’t heard further information since then. Despite the prolonged dispute, the parties apparently refused to give up. This year alone, there have been two different lawsuits filed to the South Jakarta District Court, the latest being filed by Elliana Wibowo, Surjo Wibowo’s daughter.

Last year, legal counsel of Vinmar Overseas Ltd, placed an announcement at 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. However, after the announcement, nothing really happened. Recently, we learned that Vinmar finally resort to another legal remedy as the company file a new lawsuit to the Central Jakarta District Court.

In 2010, the former Commander of the Defense and Security Headquarters Corps, Lieutenant General (Ret) TNI, Herman Sarens Sudiro, was arrested by the Military Police of the Greater Jakarta Military Region Command. Herman, who was more than 80 years old at that time, was arrested for embezzling TNI assets. The case was then dismissed because Herman’s health condition deteriorated in the same year, not long after, Herman died.

Less than two months ago, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced an investigation into the case related to the Duta Palma, one of the largest plantation business groups controlled by fugitive of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Surya Darmadi. This week, the AGO announced that they had named two suspects in the case, namely Surya Darmadi and the former Regent of Indragiri Hulu – who is a graft convict, Raja Thamsir Rachman. The AGO also named Surya as suspect on allegation of money laundering.

The legal basis and registration obligations imposed on Private Electronic System Operators (PSE Privat) finally caused mayhem as expected. After the deadline set by the Government was passed towards the end of last week, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics immediately block the access to seven PSEs including online gaming platform, Steam, and PayPal.

There are several provisions in Permenkominfo 5/2020 that do cause controversy. The first was the provisions in Art. 21 and several following articles. Art. 21 states that PSE Privat are obligated to provide access to Electronic Systems and/or Electronic Data to Law Enforcement Officials in the context of law enforcement in accordance with statutory regulations. 

The legal basis and registration obligations imposed on Private Electronic System Operators (PSE Privat) were drawn up many years ago. The registration process started a year ago, all without much attention. However, a week before the end of the registration period, all of a sudden the PSE registration process was highlighted. The public were enraged especially knowing that PSEs who did not register were threatened with access blocking sanctions, while large PSEs such as Google have not registered themselves. Fear arose about the possible loss of internet access.