The trial of the two Auditors of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) who allegedly received bribes from officials of the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Kemendes) began. The first hearing was held on October 18, 2017 and the two auditors are indicted together. What’s interesting from the indictment is not the allegation of bribery but two other allegations of graft and money laundering. This is yet another example of how corruption supported household consumption, and why reform, including eradication of corruption, will continue to affect domestic consumption in short-medium term.

People in the city are tired of endless rhetorics. They expected campaign rhetorics stopped Monday when Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno officially took the office. Unfortunate that the first speech from Anies makes reconciliation in the city more difficult. Anies and Sandiaga should now start to handle two of the most serious problems for the city’s future: flood and traffic jam.

The Directorate of Corruption at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim Polri) is investigating corruption allegation related to the process of credit facilities issuance from PT Bank BJB Syariah (BJBS), subsidiary of Bank BJB (BJBR), to PT Hastuka Sarana Karya (HSK). The investigation has been escalated to the stage of inquisition, but is is still in the first stage. Bareskrim, interestingly, has started searching in strategic places including the BJBS offices and the residence of bank officials. What is surprising about this case is that the value of the credit facility in question reaches more than Rp500 billion.

May last year dozens of pilots working at PT Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air) and grouped in the workers union sued the company policies that were considered exploiting the pilots. The company did not want to lose and filed a police report, and even sued the parties to court on the grounds that the pilots have actually committed a default. Last week, the Central Jakarta District Court decided to take sides with the pilots and partially granted their lawsuit.

It has been a while since the last time we reported the progress on the E-KTP graft case, but the trial and the investigation continues. Last Friday, the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court held the latest hearing on the trial of Andi Agustinus a.k.a Andi Narogong. The hearing uncovered a possibility of a new investigation into case of alleged money laundering. At the same day, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) summoned several individuals to be examined as witnesses related to the case.

The Bandung District Court in West Java is examining a case of alleged falsification of documents with three defendants who are members and managers of the Christian Lyceum Society (PLK), including Edward Soeryadjaya. But over seven hearings, only one defendant present while Edward and another defendant have never shown up in the trial. As a result, the hearing was postponed repeatedly. But what exactly is the problem this time?

In late November 2016, the South Jakarta District Court decided to partially grant the pre-trial lawsuits filed by the two suspects in the PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk (Mobile-8) tax restitution fraud case. The two suspects, i.e., Hary Djaja and Anthony Chandra Kartawiria have since been released from criminal charges. The Court also stated that the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) do not have the authority to investigate cases such as the tax restitution case. The AGO, however, refused to back down. In July 2017, the AGO examined Hary Tanoesoedibjo in relation to the case. Anthony, who’s anxious that the AGO will start a new investigation on the same case, filed for a Judicial Review to the Constitutional Court, stating that a new investigation into cases already stopped by the courts is a legal smuggling. But on October 10, 2017, the Constitutional Court denied the petition.

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) issued a circular to broadcasters prohibiting them to broadcast political advertisements other than during the campaign period determined by the laws and regulations. This circular was sued by Partai Berkarya and Partai Pengusaha dan Pekerja Indonesia (PPPI) to the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN). Two weeks ago, the Administrative Court decided to grant the lawsuit and cancel the KPI circular.

On March 24, 2015, not long after the Constitutional Court decided to revoke the Law No. 7/2004 on Water Resources, the panel of judges of the Central Jakarta District Court voted in favor of the petition filed by the Coalition Against Water Privatisation in Jakarta. At the time, the Coalition filed the lawsuit to stop the water privatisation in Jakarta implicating two companies, namely PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra). In 2016, the Jakarta High Court decided to cancel the district court’s verdict. On the stage of cassation, earlier this year, apparently the Supreme Court decided to upheld the district court’s verdict, but has only been made public this week. What does this mean?