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.

In Nov. 2019, Indonesian Customs officials uncovered a smuggling scandal involving executives of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA). Four directors, including then-President Director Ari Askhara, were dismissed following the incident. The Directorate General of Taxation of the Ministry of Finance promised that the investigation into the violation would be finished in less than a week. That was over a year ago. Finally, the trial of Ari Askhara started this week. 

PT Kasih Industri Indonesia (PT KII) began the year 2021 with the lawsuit on Suspension of Debt Payment (PKPU) filed by PT Humpuss Trading, a company controlled by Tommy Soeharto. The South Jakarta District Court rejected the lawsuit in the second week of February 2021. But soon after that, another company in the same group with PT Humpuss Patragas filed a similar PKPU lawsuit. Kasih group and its owner Eka Wahyu Kasih are tangled in a corruption case.