Controversy over the transfer of the case of former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah to the Attorney General's Office

JAKARTA - The case of alleged corruption of former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah, which was transferred to the Attorney General's Office from the Corruption Eradication Task Force (Kortas Tipidkor) of the National Police, has become controversial because it is considered to violate the rules.

Not long after the news of his resignation, former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah was named a suspect in a number of cases handled by the police. The cases include alleged corruption in the procurement of coal for steam power plants (PLTU), alleged money laundering (TPPU) in PT Asabri and Jiwasraya for the period 2020-2025, and alleged corruption at PT Krakatau Steel.

In addition to Febrie, he also named Don Ritto, an advocate known as a close person and junior to Febrie while studying, as a new suspect in the case.

After Febrie was named a suspect, the three cases were immediately referred to the Attorney General's Office. Head of the Tipidkor Court of the National Police Inspector General Totok Suharyanto said the transfer was carried out as a form of synergy between the two institutions.

Meanwhile, Acting Head of the National Agency for Narcotics Control (Jampidsus) Rudi Margono said that his party received the formal transfer of handling three cases. The receipt of the transfer of these cases, said Rudi, is a manifestation of commitment to acceleration, professionalism, and synergy in law enforcement.

However, the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (MAKI) Boyamin Saiman assessed that the transfer process mentioned was not in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).

"This is premature, like being killed before being born," Boyamin said via voice message to VOI.

This case began with the police's findings at 12 locations that were searched, ranging from Kafe de'Clan in the Cipete area which was suspected to be related to Febrie, to Febrie's luxurious house in Sentul, West Java.

During the search, the police found cash converted to Rp543 billion, including 74 kilograms of gold which weighed more than the gold of the National Monument (Monas).

After naming former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah and Don Ritto as suspects, the police announced that they had referred the case to the Attorney General's Office.

Boyamin assessed that the decision of the Polri Tipidkor Court to transfer the handling of the alleged corruption case that ensnared the former Febrie Adriansyah to the Attorney General's Office has the potential to open a legal loophole for the suspect to drop his legal status through the pre-trial stage.

According to Boyamin, the process of transferring this case was carried out when the investigation was not complete. Thus, this condition has the potential to create procedural defects that can be used by the suspect in applying for pretrial.

Based on Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code, a prospective suspect must first be examined as a witness before being named a suspect. However, in this case, Febrie has never been examined as a witness, so it is possible to file a pre-trial lawsuit on the grounds that he has never been examined as a witness.

In addition, the transfer of cases was also considered too early because investigators had not completed the investigation stage, ranging from examining witnesses, deepening evidence, to calculating state losses.

"This is really premature, really killed before birth. So this is a misunderstanding, violating the Criminal Procedure Code," said Boyamin.

He added, the relationship between police investigators and the prosecutor's office in the Criminal Procedure Code is only limited to coordination and submission of case files after the investigation is completed. Meanwhile, the takeover of handling cases that are still ongoing can only be carried out by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in accordance with the provisions of Law Number 19 of 2019 concerning the KPK.

"If the investigation is not completed and then immediately transferred to the prosecutor's office, this kind of mechanism is not known in the KUHAP. The only authority that has the authority to take over the case is the KPK with certain conditions," he said.

Similarly, researcher at the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies of the Faculty of Law, University of Gadjah Mada (Pukat UGM) Zaenur Rohman said that the transfer of the legal process of the former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah from the Polri Tipidkor Court to the Attorney General's Office was not a transfer process. Because in the Criminal Procedure Code, the transfer occurs when the case file is complete or P21.

"This (term of transfer) has no legal basis at all, both in the Criminal Procedure Code, in the Attorney General's Law, in the Police Law, in the Corruption Tipikor Law, there is no legal basis. So this is also very risky, if it is pre-trial, it can be dismissed as a suspect," said Zaenur, quoting Kompas.

Because the current case is still in the investigation process and halfway, there is no legal basis for the investigation to be transferred to the Prosecutor's Office. According to him, only one institution can take over the investigation in the middle of the road, namely the KPK. This means that both the National Police and the Prosecutor's Office do not have a legal basis to carry out the scheme.

The transfer of the case from the National Police to the Attorney General's Office will also raise public doubts about whether this process will be revealed clearly. This will make the public suspicious that there will be localization of the case so that it does not spread to other places.

"Because corruption crimes that have an organized crime component are impossible to do alone," he said.

He continued, it was impossible to eradicate corruption massively and thoroughly because the investigators in this case were from institutions that were being investigated in relation to corruption cases.

"What if this case will be dismantled, if the investigator comes from the institution that should be dismantled? It's impossible. It means it's impossible," he said.