AGO's Exception Accepted, Pretrial of Former BGN Deputy Head Lodewyk Kandas Dismissed

The sole judge at the Central Jakarta District Court has granted the exception filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) regarding the pretrial motion submitted by former Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Lodewyk Pusung.

Sole judge M Firman Akbar stated that the court does not have the authority to adjudicate Lodewyk’s pretrial motion concerning the alleged corruption case in the management of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme.

“Adjudicating, granting the exception of the Respondent (AGO). Declaring that the Central Jakarta District Court does not have the authority to adjudicate the pretrial motion of the Petitioner (Lodewyk),” he said while reading the verdict on Monday (24/8).

In his considerations, the judge also emphasised that he would not examine the legality of the arrest, search, seizure, and suspect designation process against Lodewyk.

“The judge firmly emphasises that he provides no assessment whatsoever regarding the legality of the arrest, search, seizure, suspect designation, or detention of the Petitioner,” the judge stated.

Previously, Lodewyk filed a pretrial motion with the Central Jakarta District Court to test the legality of the seizure process carried out by investigators from the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Attorney General’s Office.

This is the second legal remedy pursued by Lodewyk after being named a suspect and detained by the Attorney General’s Office.

At least seven individuals have been processed by the Attorney General’s Office as suspects in the alleged corruption case involving the management of the MBG programme at BGN.

They are former Head of BGN, Dadan Hindayana; former Deputy Heads of BGN, Sony Sonjaya and Lodewyk Pusung; Sony’s associate, Asep Yusuf Somantri (AYS); and Commissioner of PT Yasa Artha Trimanunggal (YAT), Andri Mulyono.

Also named are Chair of the Indonesia Food Security Review Foundation, Glory Harimas Sihombing; and Secretary of the Deputy for Promotion and Cooperation at BGN, Police Brigadier General Lalu Muhammad Iwan Mahardan.

The Attorney General’s Office explained that the MBG programme should have been managed by the Nutrition Service and Fulfilment Unit (SPPG) foundations affiliated with recipient schools.

However, in practice, many SPPGs were appointed because they had affiliations with senior BGN officials. Furthermore, many foundations did not actually meet the requirements to become SPPG partners.

Additionally, there are allegations of price inflation or mark-ups in the procurement of goods, resulting in losses that did not support the operational implementation of the MBG programme.

These include 21,801 electric motorcycles worth Rp1.03 trillion, 32,000 pairs of shoes, 31,994 tablet units, and 5,400 75-inch television units.