AGO's Pretext There Is No Political Element Behind The Determination Of Suspect Tom Lembong

Former Minister of Trade in 2015-2016 Tom Lembong at the AGO Building, Tuesday 29 October 2024 (Rizky AP/VOI)

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has declared Thomas Trikasih Lembong or Tom Lembong as suspects in the alleged corruption case of sugar imports. The reason is that the investigation process in the case has been carried out for a long time.

"Investigations in this case, it has been quite a while since October 2023, so if it is calculated, maybe one year," said the Director of Investigation at the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the AGO, Abdul Qohar, quoted Wednesday, October 30.

With the long time of investigation and investigation, the determination of the suspect against Tom Lembong is not related to political elements.

Moreover, before determining the suspect, investigators had also examined nearly a hundred witnesses.

Thus, all legal steps taken by investigators against the former Minister of Trade are in accordance with the rules.

"The number of witnesses is around 90. Of course the investigation does not only stand there, we also calculate state losses, by requiring experts," said Qohar.

In the case of alleged sugar import corruption, Tom Lembong, who while serving as Minister of Trade allowed sugar imports of 105 thousand tons to private companies.

Tom Lembong's decision has violated the Decree of the Minister of Trade Number 527 of 2004. In that regulation, only state-owned companies are allowed to import sugar.

In this case, Tom Lembong is suspected of being under Article 2 Paragraph 1 or Article 3 Juncto Article 18 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 Juncto Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Amendments to Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 31 of 1999 concerning Corruption Crimes Juncto Article 55 Paragraph 1 to 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.