Attorney General's Office Examines More than 15 Witnesses in Corruption Case Involving Ombudsman Chairman

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) has examined more than 15 individuals as witnesses to deepen the investigation into the alleged corruption case related to the management of nickel mining operations in Southeast Sulawesi, which has implicated the inactive Ombudsman Chairman Hery Susanto.

The Head of the Legal Information Centre (Kapuspenkum) of Kejagung, Anang Supriatna, stated that the witnesses examined include both internal and external parties from the Ombudsman.

“From internal there are, from external parties as well. Clearly, the examinations have involved more than 15 witnesses,” said Anang at the Kejagung Building, Jakarta, on Wednesday (22/4/2026).

However, Anang did not provide further details regarding the identities of the witnesses or the substance of the examinations conducted by the investigators.

Kejagung emphasised that the investigation process is being carried out thoroughly to ensure the case construction is clear before taking further legal steps.

Previously reported, Kejagung arrested and named the Chairman of the Indonesian Ombudsman RI, Hery Susanto, as a suspect in the corruption criminal case concerning the management of nickel mining operations in Sultra.

The Director of Investigations of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes of Kejagung, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, named Hery as a suspect because he is alleged to have received money amounting to Rp 1.5 billion from an individual with initials LKM, the director of a company with initials PT TSHI.

Hery is alleged to have arranged for policies made by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to be corrected by the Ombudsman, with instructions for PT TSHI to conduct its own calculations regarding the burdens that must be paid.

“To carry out that, the suspect received a sum of money from Mr LKM, who is the director of PT TSHI; approximately what has been handed over from this one person is around Rp 1.5 billion,” said Syarief on Thursday (16/4/2026).

After being named as a suspect, Hery was detained for the first 20 days at the Salemba Detention House Branch of the Attorney General’s Office.