A few weeks ago, former deputy minister of foreign affairs Dino Patti Djalal shared on his personal Twitter account that his mother had fallen victim to a land mafia syndicate scam. The syndicate illegally took several of the latter’s houses. Not long after, Dino named the person he suspected of masterminding this syndicate: Freddy Kusnadi. In turn, Freddy reported Dino to the police on suspicion of defamation. But just two days after the report was made, the police announced that it had arrested dozens of land mafia suspects, including Freddy.

On July 30, 2020, after being in dispute for nearly two years, Joko Mogoginta and Budhi Istanto (former executives of PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food Tbk – AISA) were finally found guilty of embezzlement. On the same day, the company’s new management held an incidental public expose to fulfill the requirements demanded by the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the reopening of the company’s securities trading on the Stock Exchange. AISA was finally allowed to recommence its operations in September 2020. In October 2020, Joko and Budhi were indicted for fraud. Their trial is ongoing. 

The Government has issued 49 implementing regulations for Law No. 11/2020 concerning Job Creation (Omnibus Law). The derivative regulations consist of 45 Government Regulations (PP) and four Presidential Regulations (Perpres). Among the dozens of implementing regulations is PP No. 35/2021. It regulates Fixed-Time Work Agreements, Outsourcing, Working Time and Rest Time, and Termination of Employment (PP PKWT-PHK). We will try to explain the provisions outlined in PP 35/2021 briefly.

Jakarta and parts of West Java welcomed 2020 with a major flood. The situation in Jakarta was so bad that representatives of the affected residents sued the Governor of Jakarta. Unfortunately, the class-action lawsuit was rejected by the Court in May 2020. When the lawsuit was filed, we thought that the Provincial Government would respond by working on infrastructure to prevent another widespread flood. But that didn’t happen, and last week, another major flood paralyzed the capital city.

The trial of Hadinoto Soedigno, Garuda Indonesia’s former executive vice president for Engineering and Maintenance Services, continues. Hadinoto stands trial for alleged involvement in the scheme of corruption conducted under the leadership of Emirsyah Satar. Separately, the peace agreement on the debt dispute implicating Koperasi Simpan Pinjam (Kospin) Indosurya Cipta is now legally binding. 

The Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (known as the UU ITE) has long been a scourge for many. This Law’s existence is important, but several articles are more striking than the Law’s purpose because it is often misused. This Law was first formed in 2011. It was last revised in 2016, but the revision does not provide the needed changes. The problematic articles still exist. Several attempts to question these articles to the Constitutional Court have not been successful. Recently, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed a discourse to revise this Law once again to ensure that everyone can criticize (the Government) without feeling afraid. Is this possible?

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) recently announced the ninth suspect in the case of corruption involving PT Asuransi Sosial Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia (familiarly known as PT ASABRI). The suspect is also the first suspect ensnared in an allegation of money laundering. We expect the AGO to name more suspects soon. Separately, the examination of the case of corruption in Jambi, which was uncovered in late 2017, continues. Recently, the prosecutors read their demands for several defendants.

Entering 2021, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) announced that it would examine seven cases of delay in notification of mergers and acquisitions. In some cases, the parties are suspected of being involved in more than one violation. Meanwhile, the KPPU had read its decisions on two similar cases.

An interesting lawsuit was registered to the Commercial Court at the Central Jakarta District Court on Feb. 15, 2021. The Court did not provide any further information regarding the parties in dispute, but this is interesting. The one being sued is one Antonius Vidi Kamadjaja. The one seeking Anton’s bankruptcy is the notorious Robert Tantular. 

The past week until the beginning of this week has been filled with news about the development of various cases of corruption. There is traction with the case involving the former Minister of Marine and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo, the case involving a regional head, and a case involving the former Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) member Rizal Djalil. There are also developments related to the case involving Joko Tjandra.