Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office has arrested the country's chief ombudsman just six days after his appointment for allegedly taking a bribe from a local nickel company, authorities said on Thursday.
Prosecutors arrested Hery Susanto, said Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, AGO's director of investigations. He was inaugurated as Indonesia's chief ombudsman by President Prabowo Subianto on April 10.
Hery allegedly received Rp 1.5 billion (US$87,540.12) from a nickel company during his period as a board member with the Indonesian Ombudsman Office from 2021 to 2026.
Syarief told reporters that the nickel company, identified only as TSHI, encountered problems related to the calculation of it's fine.
Hery and the company made arrangements which enabled the ombudsman to change the amount of fine the Forestry Ministry was recommending it should pay, Syarief said.
"It ordered the company to pay based on its own calculations," he added.
Syarief said Hery had allegedly violated bribery rules in the new Criminal Code, which could lead to a maximum sentence of three years in jail, Reuters reported.
Hery, formerly an Ombudsman commissioner, is being detained in the Salemba detention center in Central Jakarta for the next 20 days.
NasDem Party lawmaker Rifqinizamy Karsayuda, who chairs the House of Representatives Commission II overseeing bureaucratic reforms, expressed regret over the arrest of his government counterpart.
"We are very surprised. We are shocked and, of course, we regret this," he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
The commission, Rifqi said, would respect the ongoing legal process, but urged the Ombudsman's eight commissioners to ensure the institution would be able to continue carrying out its duties.
House Commission II approved Hery's nomination at his confirmation hearing in January. (tjs)