Academic: Suspects in Criminal Complicity Must Be Listed in a Single SPDP
Mataram (ANTARA) - Syamsul Hidayat, an academic from the University of Mataram, stated that suspects caught in criminal complicity (deelneming) must be listed in a single Notice of Commencement of Investigation (SPDP).
“If there is a provision for complicity, such as Article 20 of the new Criminal Code, it means there is more than one suspect, therefore one SPDP should suffice,” said Syamsul when providing a legal opinion regarding the return of the SPDP in the Sekotong illegal mining case in Mataram on Tuesday.
The SPDP, issued by investigators from the West Lombok Police, only contained one suspect’s name, namely Faerozzabadi, alias Eros, who is identified as the executor of illegal mining in the Sekotong hilly area (Pleger).
AKBP Yasmara Harahap, during his tenure as Chief of West Lombok Police in April 2024, identified the Chinese national as the perpetrator suspected of providing capital and/or the person who ordered the act (Doen Pleger).
However, the Chinese national in suspect status is no longer in Indonesia, prompting the police to place the individual on the most wanted list and conduct searches in cooperation with Interpol.
Under these circumstances, the police have taken the stance of focusing investigation efforts on the resolution of the case against the suspect, Eros.
Syamsul Hidayat, who is also a lecturer in criminal law at the Faculty of Law, Social and Political Sciences (FHISIP) of the University of Mataram, explained that the Fugitive (DPO) status of a suspect does not affect the SPDP.
“Even if they are a fugitive, they are still a suspect,” he said.
Furthermore, the handling of this case has received direct attention from the Directorate of Specific Crimes of the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri), which is providing assistance through the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation of the NTB Regional Police.
During the investigation process, the police have seized several pieces of evidence related to illegal mining activities. All items, including excavators, transport trucks, and chemical substances such as cyanide and mercury, bear Chinese characters and originate from China.
Authorities have also cordoned off several mining sites with police lines to prevent activities from resuming.
Based on an audit by the NTB Environmental and Forestry Service (LHK), there are at least 25 illegal mining sites in the Sekotong area, covering a total area of 98.19 hectares. All sites are located within the mining business permit (IUP) area owned by PT Indotan Lombok Barat Bangkit, which has had no mining activity since the 1990s.
According to studies conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) alongside the NTB LHK Team and the Ministry, a single illegal mining block in the area is capable of generating gold turnover of up to Rp90 billion per month.