Appraisal Team Acquitted in MXGP Samota Land Corruption Case
Two defendants in the corruption case concerning the land acquisition for the MXGP circuit in Samota, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, have been acquitted. They are Pung Saifullah Zulkarnaen and Muhammad Jan.
The panel of judges at the Mataram Corruption Court, chaired by Lalu Moh Sandi Iramaya, ruled that the defendants’ actions only constituted administrative violations and were not criminal acts. Both defendants immediately prostrated themselves in gratitude and embraced each other after hearing the verdict.
“The court declares that defendant Muhammad Jan and defendant Pung Saifullah Zulkarnaen have been proven to have committed the acts as charged, but these do not constitute criminal offences,” said Sandi while reading the verdict in the Mataram District Court courtroom on Wednesday evening (19/8/2026).
Defendant Pung Saifullah Zulkarnaen is the head of a Public Appraisal Services Office (KJPP) and Muhammad Jan is the branch head of the KJPP. Both were members of the land appraisal team for the MXGP circuit land acquisition.
“The court therefore releases both defendants from all legal charges,” he added.
The judges also ordered that both defendants be released from detention immediately. “The court orders the relevant agencies to restore the defendants’ official status, positions and professional licences to their original state once this ruling has permanent legal force,” he said.
Previously, prosecutors had sought a two-year prison sentence for defendant Pung Saifullah Zulkarnaen. The sentence sought for defendant Muhammad Jan was six months higher, at 2.5 years.
Both defendants were also ordered to pay fines of Rp 500 million each, with a subsidiary sentence of 140 days. Prosecutors argued that both had violated Article 603 in conjunction with Article 20 letter a or b of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code.
The two men were defendants in the case alongside the former head of the National Land Agency (BPN) for Sumbawa and Central Lombok, Subhan. Subhan had previously been sentenced to 15 months in prison and a fine of Rp 50 million, with a subsidiary sentence of 50 days.
The Sumbawa Regency Government purchased 70 hectares of land from former East Lombok Regent Ali Bin Dachlan for Rp 52 billion. The land purchase took place in 2022.
Investigators found state losses of Rp 6.7 billion in the land purchase process. The state losses have been returned to the West Nusa Tenggara High Prosecutor’s Office by Ali BD as the party who received the payment.
At the time of the land acquisition, Subhan served as head of the Sumbawa BPN and acted as chairman of the land acquisition implementation team. Meanwhile, Pung Saifullah Zulkarnaen and Muhammad Jan served as the appraisal team from the Public Appraisal Services Office (KJPP).