Supported By President Prabowo And General Andika, Mahfud Confirms Satellite Procurement Case At The Ministry Of Defense Is Completely Investigated

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD/Antara

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD has the support of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo to complete the legal process for the satellite procurement case at the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) in 2015.

"The president also asked that he be brought to the realm of criminal justice," said Mahfud MD via his Instagram account @mohmahfudmd, Sunday, January 16. In fact, he said, ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet also supported the case being brought to court. "The Minister of Communication and Information agreed, Minister of Finance is excited. Defense Minister Prabowo and TNI Commander Andika also firmly said that this should be punished," said Mahfud.

Mahfud revealed, the decision was taken after the Payments Finance Supervisory Agency (BPKP) found an alleged violation of the law that was detrimental to the state when conducting an audit. He admitted that he was determined to take up the criminal field after several parties considered him to be hampering the process.

“There seems to be something preventing the problem from being clearly opened. Finally, I decided to ask BPKP to conduct a Specific Purpose Audit (ATT),” said Mahfud.

As a result, he said, there were violations of laws and regulations and the state could continue to be harmed. "Therefore, I have decided to immediately stop the meeting and direct it to be processed legally," he explained.

The decision to enter the criminal realm, said Mahfud, still received support from the Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto and the TNI Commander, General TNI Andika Perkasa.

"The Defense Minister and the TNI Commander firmly said that there should be no privileges for corruption from any institution, all must comply with the law," he explained. In addition, added Mahfud, Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin also expressed readiness to dismantle this case. Agung, who apparently also stated his readiness to firmly investigate this case, "he said. Therefore, Mahfud invites all parties to pay close attention to the completion of the case that cost the state nearly Rp1 trillion.

"So, let's take a closer look at the investigation of this case together," he concluded.

As previously reported, Indonesia had to pay a fine of almost IDR 1 trillion for violating the law behind the payment contract for the satellite slot orbiting 123 degrees East Longitude at the Ministry of Defense for the 2015-2016 period.

This amount of money must be paid to two companies, namely, Avanti Communications Group and Navayo. Because the British Arbitration Court on July 9, 2019 has decided that the Ministry of Defense must pay Rp515 billion in money to Avanti. Meanwhile, on May 22, 2022, the Singapore Arbitration Court granted Navayo's claim. Where Indonesia is required to pay money amounting to USD20.9 million or equivalent to Rp314 billion.

This incident began when on January 19, 2015, the Garuda l satellite was out of orbit from the orbital slot of 123 degrees east longitude. Thus, there is a management vacuum by Indonesia.

Based on the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said Mahfud, countries that have received management rights will be given three years to fill out their orbital slots. If it is not fulfilled, the right to manage the orbital slot will be automatically terminated and can be used by other countries.

To fill the vacant orbital slot management, the Ministry of Communication and Information has complied with the Ministry of Defense's request to obtain management rights. It aims to build a Defense Communications Satellite (Satkomhan). The Ministry of Defense then made a lease contract for the Artemis Satellite, which is a temporary satellite to fill the orbit of Avanti Communication. The contract was signed on December 6, 2015.

Over time, the Ministry of Defense on June 25 2018 returned the rights to manage the 123 degrees east long orbital slot to the Ministry of Communication and Information. Then, on December 10 2018, Kominfo issued a decision regarding the Right to Use Indonesian Satellite Filing at Orbit 123 degrees for Garuda 2 and Nusantara A1A Satellite Filing to PT. Dini Nusa Kusuma. However, the company was unable to overcome problems in the procurement of the Satkomhan.