The trial of Rajesh “Mohan” Rajamohanan Nair, the managing director of PT EK Prima Ekspor ( EKP, a subsidiary of Lulu Group) who was caught bribing officials of the Directorate General of Taxation, continues. Last week, the public prosecutors asked the court to sentence Mohan to 4 years in prison and to ignore the testimony of the Director General of Taxation. In the hearing held on April 10, 2017, Mohan read his plea.

The trial of Andi Zoelkarnaen Mallarangeng (otherwise known as Choel) has finally started. Choel is standing trial for graft in the Hambalang Sports Complex construction project. His first hearing was held on April 10, 2017 at the Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court read the indictment for Choel.

Last year President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo revealed that the Central Government had identified 42,633 overlapping regulatory products, which included approximately 3,000 Regional Regulations (Perda, or bylaws). The President instructed the Minister of Home Affairs to cancel said bylaws by 2016 for the sake of improving Indonesia’s competitiveness and boosting economic growth. Four months later, 3,143 bylaws were cancelled. But before the decision was carried out, on October 2015, 46 municipality governments, backed by the Association of Regency Government of Indonesia (APKASI) filed a petition for Judicial Review on the Law No. 23/2014 and challenged 14 articles. On April 5, 2017, the Constitutional Court decided to grant the plea on 1 article, but this is the most important article. With this decision, governors can no longer cancel a regulation promulgated by municipalities.

Dahlan Iskan was named a graft suspect by the East Java High Prosecutor’s Office at the end of last year. He’s allegedly involved in the questionable release of assets of PT Panca Wira Usaha, a company owned by the East Java Provincial Government. The prosecution is being carried out by the Corruption Court of the Surabaya District Court. On April 7, 2017, the public prosecutors read their demands on Dahlan Iskan.

The trial of the two defendants in the electronic identity cards (E-KTP) procurement graft case continues. On April 6, 2017, the Corruption Court of the Central Jakarta District Court listened to the testimonies of several witnesses, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives Setya Novanto and the former Chairman of the Democratic Party Anas Urbaningrum. The trial aside, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continues to develop their investigation into the case, and has named Hanura politician Miryam Haryani as a suspect of perjury. Here’s a brief summary of the statements made in the hearing and the development of the investigation.

PT Humpuss Pengolahan Minyak (HPM), a subsidiary of PT Humpuss belonging to Hutomo Mandala Putra, were able to resolve their Suspension of Debts Payment (PKPU) predicament. The Company’s creditors agreed to accept the peace proposal on April 5, 2017. But the PKPU administrators decided not to recognize one creditor because the creditor is a foreign company and recognizing their bills would be a violation of the law.

The trial of the suspects in the case of bribery involving the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) continues. Surprising testimonies were given in the hearing held on April 3, 2017. Suspects Muhammad Adami Okta and Hardy Stefanus attended the trial of suspect Fahmi Darmawansyah (the President Director of PT Meriel Esa Indonesia) on that day as witnesses. Both men mentioned new accounts concerning several members of the House Commission I of the House of Representatives,

On April 4, 2017 the North Jakarta District Court held the latest hearing session for the defendant Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. Governor Ahok is standing trial for alleged blasphemy. This is the seventeenth hearing of his trial and next week the public prosecutors will read their demands on Ahok. It is interesting that the Panel of Judges has decided to allow the live broadcasting of the next hearing session.