BT's Legal Representative Requests the Judge to Reject the Transmigration Land Case in Kukar

The Samarinda District Court has begun to try a case related to the use of transmigration land for mining activities in Kutai Kartanegara Regency (Kukar), East Kalimantan/DOK IST.

Samarinda - The Samarinda District Court has begun to try a case related to the use of transmigration land for mining activities in Kutai Kartanegara Regency (Kukar), East Kalimantan.

In the first hearing held on Tuesday, July 28, Budiono Tanbun's legal team (BT) filed a resistance (exemption) to the charges.

The lawyer assessed that the case had expired based on applicable legal provisions, and argued that the main issue questioned by the JPU was more appropriately resolved through the mechanism of civil law.

The defendant's legal team, Andi Simangunsong, appealed to the panel of judges of the Samarinda District Court (PN) to reject the indictment of the Public Prosecutor (JPU) regarding the alleged corruption case of the utilization of transmigration land.

The application is based on the argument that the case has expired and the main issue is considered to be within the scope of civil law.

In reading the objection note to the indictment (exemption), Andi Simangunsong explained that the alleged criminal act specifically charged to his client occurred in the period from January to December 2007.

Based on the old Criminal Code (KUHP) that applies to this case, the statute of limitations for prosecution for the case is 18 years, which means that the deadline has officially expired in December 2025.

This is because the alleged actions occurred before the new Criminal Code came into force. Therefore, the prosecution authority is requested to be declared dismissed.

"The public prosecutor only filed the indictment in July 2026, so it is past, because it was calculated at the end of December 2025, so according to the law the court should declare the prosecution against Mr. Budiono has expired, the indictment must be unacceptable and Mr. Budiono must be immediately released. In addition, this case is purely a dispute over management rights and mining permits where the company has freed the land from certified residents. If it is judged to be the wrong target, it is a matter of law, not a criminal act of corruption," said Andi explaining his argument.

Therefore, the legal team urged the panel of judges to declare the indictment inadmissible and the defendant BT immediately released.

The Samarinda District Court has begun to try a case related to the use of transmigration land for mining activities in Kutai Kartanegara Regency (Kukar), East Kalimantan/DOK IST.

Meanwhile, JPU Riko Kriswantoro explained that the defendant BT as the Director of PT KRA and Director of PT ABE was suspected of carrying out coal mining operations whose area partly fell within the Separi Management Rights (HPL) area, Kutai Kartanegara Regency.

The activity was allegedly carried out without having a permit from the Directorate General of Transmigration.

The JPU said the alleged illegal mining also involved a witness with the initials HM, who served as the Head of the Kukar Mining and Energy Service from 2005 to 2008, who was considered not to have taken any supervisory or control actions.

The activity is claimed to have produced 1,896,876 tons of coal. Based on the East Kalimantan Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) Audit Results Report dated June 15, 2026, the action is suspected of enriching the corporation and causing state losses of IDR 696.9 billion.

For this matter, the legal team said BT had deposited funds of Rp696.9 billion or 100 percent of the value of the alleged state losses.

After listening to the reading of the indictment from the JPU and the objections from the defendant, the Chairman of the Samarinda PN Court of Justice Jemmy Tanjung Utama, accompanied by Judge Member Nur Salamah, decided to postpone the legal process. The panel of judges closed the trial and will resume it next week.