The Attorney General's Office Considers Other Trade Ministers Not Related To The Tom Lembong Case

Tom Lembong/ANTARA PHOTO/Rivan Awal Lingga/nym.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) assesses that five other Trade Ministers are not related to the Thomas Trikasih Lembong or Tom Lembong case as suspects in the corruption case of sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) in 2015-2016.

"That the examination of the other five Ministers of Trade has nothing to do with determining the applicant as a suspect," said the representative of the AGO, Teguh A. in a pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, November 19.

Teguh emphasized that if later investigators have found sufficient evidence of the involvement of other parties, then of course this will be followed up.

However, he said, if the parties concerned, including the other Trade Minister, were proven to be involved in this case, then the evidence or case files would be different from Tom Lembong.

"In the progress of the investigation, there is sufficient evidence for the involvement of other parties, of course, investigators will follow up with the determination of the suspect, which of course is proof, of course, not a case file," he added.

Teguh also emphasized that Tom Lembong's legal team's lawsuit urging investigators to examine other Trade Ministers was not included in the pretrial substance.

Therefore, the AGO said that the examination of other Trade Ministers should have been submitted in the trial of corruption or the Corruption Court.

He explained, the pretrial only discusses the formal aspects that contain administrative matters or criminal procedural legal procedures to obtain complete evidence.

"That the petitioners' arguments are no longer formal administrative procedures because these arguments are the substance of the examination of the subject matter of the case in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code," he explained.

The South Jakarta District Court held an exception or refutation hearing of the defendant on Tuesday, handing over evidence on Wednesday (20/11) and presenting expert witnesses on Thursday (21/11).

Tom Lembong filed a pretrial lawsuit after being named a suspect by the Attorney General's Office in a case of alleged corruption in sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) in 2015-2016.