Prosecutor Asks Judge to Reject Exception, Tom Lembong: Why Am I the Only Defendant?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Public Prosecutor has requested that the objection note or exception submitted by the defendant in the alleged corruption case involving raw sugar imports, former Minister of Trade Tom Lembong, be rejected by the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court. The prosecutor argued that all the objections raised by Tom Lembong's legal counsel have already entered into the substance of the case.

The response to the objection was delivered alternately by the public prosecutor team, led by Sigit Sambodo, during the hearing with the agenda of reading the response to the defendant's objection at the Jakarta Corruption Court (Tipikor) on Tuesday (11/3/2025). The hearing was presided over by the Chief Judge Dennie Arsan Fatika.

Based on the objection assessment submitted by Tom Lembong and his legal counsel, which has already entered the substance of the case, according to the prosecutor, it should fall under material evidence to be examined during the trial.

Therefore, the public prosecutor concluded that all the arguments of the defense counsel or the defendant are incorrect and unfounded, and thus should be disregarded.

According to the prosecutor, the indictment prepared by the public prosecutor has been meticulously, clearly, and comprehensively drafted, providing a complete depiction of the criminal act charged against the defendant.

"The public prosecutor has outlined the defendant's actions during the period of tempus delicti in accordance with the defendant's tenure as Minister of Trade in 2015-2015 in a precise, clear, and comprehensive manner, detailing the criminal act committed, who committed it, who carried out the criminal act, where the criminal act was committed, when the criminal act was committed, how the criminal act was carried out, and the consequences caused by the criminal act," said the prosecutor.

Thus, the prosecutor assessed that the indictment in the name of the defendant Tom Lembong had fulfilled the formal and material requirements.

His party requested that the panel of judges reject all objections or exceptions submitted by the legal counsel or defendant Tom Lembong. Then, stated that the indictment was accurate, clear and complete and had met formal and material requirements.

The prosecutor also requested that the panel of judges continue examining the case a quo by examining the main points of the case.  

It is known that on Thursday (6/3/2025), Tom Lembong was charged with enriching other people, resulting in the state experiencing a loss of IDR 515.4 billion.

The man who was also once the Head of the Investment Coordinating Board is said to have issued 21 letters of approval for the import of raw crystal sugar processed into white crystal sugar to companies that were not authorized, namely private companies producing refined sugar.

There are 10 people who are said to be enriched by the import approval letter of raw crystal sugar processed into white crystal sugar. They are the top officials of private companies producing refined sugar who are not authorized to import raw crystal sugar.

After the indictment was read, Tom Lembong immediately asked the panel of judges to be given the opportunity to read the defense note or exception. Tom's defense note was read by the legal advisor team led by Ari Yusuf Amir.

In his defense, Tom Lembong considered that the public prosecutor's indictment was unclear, inaccurate, and incomplete. Tom felt that he had been forced to take responsibility for the legal actions of others (error in persona).

"We are truly sad that our client is suspected of corruption, while the public prosecutor cannot prove even one rupiah of funds flowing into our client, either directly or indirectly," said Ari.

From the entire defense, Tom Lembong's legal counsel asked the panel of judges to declare the public prosecutor's indictment was drafted carelessly, unclearly, and incompletely and to declare the indictment null and void. The legal counsel also asked the panel of judges to release Tom from detention.

After the response to the exception was read by the public prosecutor, Tom Lembong reiterated his objection to the time tempus delicti in his indictment which was considered inconsistent with the time tempus in the investigation warrant. He also objected to why he was the only Minister of Trade who was named a defendant, even though the time tempus in the sprindik was the raw sugar import case from 2015-2023.

"Why am I the only one who is a defendant or even a suspect? I also feel that the response of the Public Prosecutor has not shown at all the relationship between the alleged violation of the law and the alleged corruption," he said.

Tom also asked the Attorney General's Office not to be selective in investigating the sugar import case at the Ministry of Trade. He claimed that sugar imports were carried out by all Ministers of Trade.

"All the Ministers of Trade who are in office, because all of them are also doing exactly the same thing as me, also on the same legal basis as me. Yes, it also has to be simultaneous, you can't be selective," said Tom.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Dennie Arsan Fatika said that Tom's objections were not much different from the exceptions that had been read previously. Therefore, the panel of judges will postpone the trial until Thursday (13/3/2025). Furthermore, the trial will be held with the agenda of an interim decision.