JAKARTA - The leadership of the Indonesian Ombudsman for the period 2026-2031 apologized to the public and emphasized full respect for the legal process that ensnared the Chairman of the Ombudsman, Hery Susanto, who was inaugurated less than a week before being named a suspect in a corruption case.
Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Rahmadi Indra Tektona, said the case occurred during the previous term, namely the 2021-2026 period.
"The leadership of the Indonesian Ombudsman for the period 2026-2031 apologizes for the inconvenience to the public and regrets this incident. We are committed to maintaining public confidence in the task of overseeing public services with integrity," he said in a written statement, Thursday, April 16.
He emphasized that the Ombudsman fully respects the legal process that is underway and will be cooperative with law enforcement officials.
"We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of transparency, accountability, and respect for the principle of presumption of innocence. Each party has the right to a fair legal process," he said.
Rahmadi ensured that, although this case had captured the public's attention, the function of public service supervision would continue to run normally and not be disturbed.
"Internal steps have been prepared according to the institutional mechanism to maintain the continuity of the task," he said.
Previously, the Attorney General's Office named Hery Susanto as a suspect in the alleged corruption case in nickel mining governance in Southeast Sulawesi in the period 2013-2025. He was immediately detained for the first 20 days at the Salemba Detention Center, Jakarta.
The determination of the suspect has come under scrutiny because Hery has just been inaugurated as the Head of the Indonesian Ombudsman for the period 2026-2031 and has not yet served a week.
Investigators suspect that Hery, while still serving as a member of the previous period of the Ombudsman, arranged the results of the study so that the Ministry of Forestry's policy regarding the obligation to pay fines by PT TSHI was judged to be wrong.
In this case, Hery allegedly received a reward of IDR 1.5 billion to find an administrative loophole in the calculation of non-tax state revenues (PNBP) related to forest lease area permits (IPPKH).
For his actions, he is suspected of violating a number of articles in Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.
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