Helping to Handle Ronald Tannur's Case for Cassation Decision, Zarof Ricar Receives IDR 1 Billion

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Former Supreme Court official, Zarof Ricar, has been charged with participating in a bribery case involving a judge related to the acquittal of Ronald Tannur. He is alleged to have received a reward of Rp 1 billion for assisting in ensuring that the cassation decision in Ronald Tannur's case upheld the acquittal verdict handed down by the Surabaya District Court panel of judges.

Not only that, Zarof was also charged with receiving bribes amounting to Rp 915 billion and 51 kilograms of gold from parties involved in court cases, whether at the first instance, appeal, cassation, or judicial review levels from 2012-2022.

The indictment against Zarof Ricar was read alternately by the team of Public Prosecutors led by M Nurachman Adikusumo at the Jakarta Corruption Court, Monday (10/2/2025). The session was chaired by Chief Judge Rosihan Juhriah Rangkuti, accompanied by Purwanto S Abdullah and Sigit Herman Binaji as associate judges.

The prosecutor stated that Zarof Ricar, together with Lisa Rachmat, the lawyer of Ronald Tannur, had conspired by giving or promising something to Judge Soesilo, who was the Chief Judge handling Ronald Tannur's case at the cassation level.

Lisa promised Rp 5 billion to Soesilo, who is adjudicating the cassation case, to issue a cassation decision that upholds the Surabaya District Court's ruling, and Rp 1 billion to Zarof Ricar.

It is known that Ronald was involved in the murder case of his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afrianti (27), a single parent from an ordinary family in Sukabumi, West Java. Ronald was brought to court with a demand for 12 years in prison. However, on July 24, 2024, the Surabaya District Court acquitted him of all charges.

In his explanation, the prosecutor stated that Lisa Rachmat sought the assistance of Zarof Ricar to be introduced to the Chief Judge of the Surabaya District Court. Subsequently, Lisa Rachmat approached and attempted to influence the judge of the Surabaya District Court who was examining and adjudicating the criminal case in the name of Ronald Tanur, resulting in Ronald Tanur being acquitted of all charges by the Public Prosecutor.

After the Panel of Judges of the Surabaya District Court declared that Ronald Tannur was not legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act from all the charges of the Public Prosecutor on July 24, 2024, the Public Prosecutor filed an appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court.

On September 6, 2024, it was known that the first Panel of Cassation Judges in the Ronald Tannur case consisted of Soesilo as chairman of the panel and two member judges, namely Sutarjo and Ainal Mardhiah.

After that, Lisa met Zarof Ricar and said that one of the judges handling Ronald Tannur's cassation case was Soesilo. To Lisa, Zarof admitted to knowing Judge Soesilo.

"Then Lisa Rachmat asked the defendant to influence the judge who tried the cassation case to issue a cassation decision that upheld the Surabaya District Court Decision Number 454/Pid.B/2024/PN.Sby dated July 24, 2024," said the Prosecutor.

Lisa promised to give Rp 6 billion with Rp 5 billion for Soesilo and Rp 1 billion for Zarof Ricar. Zarof agreed to it.

After the meeting with Lisa Rachmat, or on September 27, 2024, Zarof also met with Judge Soesilo when attending the invitation to the Inauguration of Professor Prof. Herri Swantoro at Makassar State University. In the meeting, Zarof conveyed to Soesilo a request for assistance in Ronald Tannur's cassation case. Soesilo said he would look at the case first.

At the meeting, Zarof also took a selfie with Judge Soesilo and sent the photo to Lisa Rachmat. On October 2, 2024, Lisa handed over money in Singapore dollars worth Rp 2.5 billion to Zarof Ricar for the costs of handling Ronald Tannur's case.

"After receiving the money, Zarof actively provided information to Lisa Rachmat, including via Whatsapp message on October 8, 2024 to Lisa Rachmat with the sentence "the task has been carried out, I have visited everything, thank you." Then Lisa Rachmat replied "Ready to stop by on Friday, sir," said the Prosecutor.

On October 12, 2024, Zarof again received money from Lisa worth Rp 2.5 billion. In addition to receiving the money, Lisa also gave Zarof a handwritten note with the names of the cassation panel of judges along with the agreed amount of money and a special note to influence Ronald Tannur's cassation decision to strengthen the Surabaya District Court's decision.

Then, on October 22, 2024, the Panel of Cassation Judges consisting of Chief Justice Soesilo and Ainal Mardhiah (member I) and Sutarjo (member II) issued a cassation verdict on Ronald Tannur. In the verdict, there was a dissenting opinion by Judge Soesilo which in essence stated that Ronald Tannur was not proven guilty of committing a crime as charged by the public prosecutor.

For his actions, the prosecutor charged Zarof Ricar with violating Article 6 Paragraph (1) Letter a in conjunction with Article 15 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, or Article 5 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 15 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

Not only that, the Prosecutor also charged Zarof Ricar with the article of gratification, namely Article 12B of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption. Since 2012-2022, Zarof is suspected of receiving bribes of up to Rp 915 billion and 51 kilograms of gold from parties in litigation in the court environment, both at the first level, appeal, cassation and judicial review.

After the charges against Zarof Ricar were read out, the prosecutor then charged Meirizka Meirizka Widjaja, Ronald Tannur's mother and Ronald Tannur's attorney, Lisa Rachmat. Both were also charged with Article 6 Paragraph (1) Letter a in conjunction with Article 15 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, or Article 5 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 15 in conjunction with Article 18 of the Law concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

Meirizka and Lisa were charged with influencing the Judge who would examine and decide Ronald Tannur's criminal case to acquit him of all the Public Prosecutor's charges. Both of them had given money to the judges, namely Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul, and Heru Hanindyo.

On the charges, Zarof Ricar and Lisa Rachmat filed a note of objection or exception which will be held on February 17. Meanwhile, Meirizka and her legal team immediately filed and read their exception in the courtroom.