Prosecutors have denied Lembong’s arrest was politically motivated.
Lembong’s supporters jeered the three-judge panel in Jakarta’s packed Corruption Court as they handed down the sentence, as part of a 1000-page document, late on Friday afternoon local time.
Lembong (in blue shirt) in Jakarta in 2015 with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s then-president.Credit: AP
A web of regulations governs Indonesia’s sugar market, surpassed in complexity only by the case against Lembong, which included allegations he allowed a private company to import a type of sugar that was supposedly reserved for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
Another allegation was that he permitted an SOE to import a certain type of sugar, which was then passed to private companies which didn’t have the required permits to process it, and prompted blockages and high prices for sugar.
The judges found that one of Lembong’s errors was putting capitalism over “Pancasila”, the state ideology rooted in five key principles: belief in one god, the unity of humanity, national unity, democracy and social justice.
“It is hard to avoid the impression that this was a highly politicised trial,” said Marcus Mietzner, an expert on Indonesia at the Australian National University. “The judges’ remark that Lembong favoured a ‘capitalist approach to trade rather than an approach based on the national state ideology, Pancasila’, is particularly flimsy.
“The judges also acknowledged that Lembong did not enrich himself. What exactly, then, he was convicted of remains somewhat of a mystery.”
Lembong’s legal team argued the prosecution’s case was nonsensical and erratic, noted that charges had changed months after his arrest, that his ministerial predecessor had approved similar moves, and that Lembong was acting responsibly – and legally – by ensuring the security of the national sugar stock.
“This verdict should be reviewed; otherwise, it will be dangerous for all state officials and ministers. They must now be prepared to be involved in corruption cases,” said Ari Yusuf Ami, the head of Lembong’s legal team.
“Government officials will no longer have the guts to make decisions. Then, the state cannot function.”
The defence is reviewing whether to appeal.
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