August 4, 2025 | 06:04 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong, widely known as Tom Lembong, has formally lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court against the judges who presided over his sugar import corruption case. The judicial panel had initially sentenced Tom to four years and six months in prison before he was subsequently acquitted through an abolition.
Tom's legal team submitted the report, arriving at the Supreme Court's One-Stop Integrated Service Building around 12:45 p.m. on Monday, August 4, 2025.
"[The reported judges are] the entire panel that presided over Tom's case, as there was no dissenting opinion among them," Tom's lawyer, Zaid Mushafi, informed the media at the Supreme Court Building in Central Jakarta.
The individuals named in the report are Dennie Arsan Fatrika, the presiding judge, and panel judges Purwanto S Abdullah and Alfis Setyawan. A "dissenting opinion" in this context refers to a judge's disagreement with the majority decision in a court ruling.
"However, it is notable that one of the panel judges, in our opinion, did not uphold the presumption of innocence throughout the trial," Zaid stated. According to him, this particular judge instead emphasized the presumption of guilt. "It appeared as if Tom was already presumed guilty, and the evidence merely needed to be found."
Initially, Zaid did not disclose the name of the specific panel judge in question, but he eventually identified Alfis Setyawan.
"According to us, the panel judge who tended to exhibit unprofessional conduct is Judge Alfis," he affirmed.
Zaid elaborated that this alleged conduct was evident during a previous trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court. He claimed that Judge Alfis drew conclusions based solely on witness testimonies presented in court.
"Furthermore, when it was asserted that Tom Lembong emphasized capitalist economics, it was he who articulated those considerations," Zaid added.
Conversely, Zaid continued, those same considerations stated that the government's assignment was carried out by a cooperative. Zaid then questioned whether a cooperative could truly symbolize or reflect the implementation of a capitalist economic system, especially given that this cooperative had assisted in the distribution of sugar to rural areas.
Zaid further clarified that Tom Lembong's intent in reporting the judicial panel was not to attack them personally or the Supreme Court institution. "Rather, he is undertaking this in the spirit of improvement and evaluation, so that no other Indonesian citizen will experience what he did."
Previously, Tom Lembong was convicted of corruption in the 2015-2016 sugar import case during his tenure as Trade Minister. The Jakarta Corruption Court had sentenced him to 4.5 years in prison and imposed a fine of Rp750 million, with an alternative of six months of detention.
He was subsequently granted an abolition or was acquitted of the charges and the sentence by President Prabowo Subianto after receiving approval from the House of Representatives. Tom Lembong was finally released from detention on Friday, August 1, 2025.
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