Tom Lembong is Healthy, Panel of Judges Again Postpones Trial

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Corruption Court in Jakarta has once again postponed the hearing of the alleged corruption case regarding sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade for the years 2015-2016, with the defendant being former Minister of Trade Thomas Trikasih Lembong, also known as Tom Lembong. The reason for the postponement was the incomplete presence of the panel of judges, as one of the judges was on leave and had urgent matters outside the city.

Previously, the trial regarding the alleged corruption in sugar imports at the Ministry of Trade involving Tom Lembong had been postponed for two weeks since May 22, 2025. At that time, Tom was unwell and required medical treatment.

The postponement of the hearing with the agenda of witness examination was announced by the Chief Judge Dennie Arsan Fatrika, accompanied by one member judge, Alfis Setiawan, at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (2/6/2025). Meanwhile, another member judge, Purwanto S Abdullah, was unable to attend the trial. On this occasion, the defendant Tom Lembong was present along with his legal team in the courtroom.

"We convey that, as seen in this trial, the panel is incomplete. One of our members happens to have an urgent matter, and therefore must take leave out of town. Consequently, they are unable to attend the hearing today," said Judge Dennie.

According to Judge Dennie, his side has been waiting for another judge to replace one of the panel judges who is unavailable. However, the awaited judge still has to attend another court agenda and it cannot be determined when that session will conclude. Additionally, the number of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court is also said to be limited.

"Therefore, since we do not yet know when the member judges will finish, rather than waiting for something that is unclear or uncertain, we are compelled to state that today's hearing cannot be continued," he said.

In addition, the decision to postpone the hearing was also due to the condition of Tom Lembong, who is still in recovery after illness. Therefore, the panel of judges decided that the hearing will resume on June 10, 2025.

Previously, the hearing for Tom Lembong had been postponed for two weeks since May 22, 2025. At that time, Tom was unwell and required medical treatment. The hearing was then scheduled to take place today, Monday, June 2, 2025. However, the panel of judges decided to postpone the hearing for Tom Lembong once again.

Meanwhile, Tom admitted that he is now in good health after being sick last week and needing time to rest.

Due to several postponements of the hearings, the presiding judge Dennie requested that the next hearings be held twice a week, specifically on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"We have scheduled it for Tuesday and Thursday. If there is a free day available, perhaps there will be three hearings in the coming weeks. This is to catch up on several hearings that have been delayed and postponed for examination," said Judge Dennie.

One of the public prosecutors stated that there are still 20 witnesses from the prosecution who will be examined. They expressed their agreement with holding the hearings twice a week.

"Your Honor, for the witnesses, we have scheduled 20 individuals for June 10 and June 12. Following that, on June 17 and June 19, we will present expert witnesses," said the prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Tom Lembong's legal counsel, Zaid Mushafi, requested the panel of judges to allow the public prosecutor to submit the audit results from the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) regarding the state losses incurred in the alleged sugar import corruption to the legal counsel. This document is needed for further study.

The prosecutor stated that the document will be submitted on June 12, 2025, or one week before the examination of expert witnesses from the BPKP auditor.

After hearing the prosecutor's statement, Chief Judge Dennie emphasized that the public prosecutor must submit the BPKP report directly on June 12.

"Therefore, by Thursday, June 12, we request the public prosecutor to submit directly without the need for the panel to remind again," said presiding judge Dennie.

Dennie then closed the trial. The next trial will be held again on June 10, 2025.

After the hearing, Zaid Mushafi also stated that the audit report from BPKP is needed for further study. His party alleged that there were inaccuracies in the calculations regarding the state losses incurred. They claimed that there were no state losses caused by Tom Lembong.

"Therefore, we will study the calculation of state losses after we receive the audit document from BPKP on June 12. We will examine it together and present it in the hearing. Whether this calculation is accurate or not. If it is not, then Mr. Tom Lembong should be released because there is no financial loss to the state," said Zaid.

It is known that Tom Lembong has been charged with enriching others, resulting in state losses amounting to Rp 515.4 billion. In his explanation, the public prosecutor stated that Tom issued import approval letters for raw crystal sugar for the period of 2015-2016 to 10 private companies.

The approval was granted without being based on a coordination meeting between ministries and without the recommendation from the Ministry of Industry. There are 21 import approval letters for sugar that do not comply with the provisions of the legislation.