Attorney General's Office Must Fully Investigate Backing of Mining Boss Aseng Bribery Case
Jakarta – The Coordinator of Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Movement (MAKI), Boyamin Saiman, has urged the Attorney General’s Office to conduct a thorough investigation into the corruption case of Sudianto, also known as Aseng, who is now a suspect for irregularities in mining permit management for PT Quality Success Sejahtera (QSS) in West Kalimantan.
“This includes investigating if there are allegations of backing by law enforcement officials. If it is not exposed, the Attorney General’s Office will bear moral responsibility. This mining operation clearly has significant backing,” Boyamin stated on Saturday, 23 May 2026.
He commended the Attorney General’s Office’s investigation of this case, noting that natural resources belong to the state and corruption in illegal mining causes substantial harm to the nation. However, he emphasised that individuals allegedly involved in facilitating Aseng’s operations must also face legal consequences.
“Government officials who facilitated this mining operation, including its sales and documentation processes—which should never have been approved yet were made to appear legitimate—must all be prosecuted,” he asserted.
He further stressed that prosecuting only a private businessman would be pointless. Rather, government officials must be held accountable if proven complicit.
“There is no value in prosecuting only the private entrepreneur. It is the government officials who must be prosecuted, because they enabled this corruption to continue,” he explained.
Consequently, Boyamin affirmed that he will oversee this case to its conclusion and is prepared to file a judicial review lawsuit against the Attorney General’s Office should it fail to investigate the allegedly involved officials.
“The Attorney General’s Office should be prepared: I will sue for judicial review if you engage in selective prosecution,” he warned.
In similar comments, Trisakti University Criminal Law Expert Abdul Fickar Hadjar emphasised that the prosecution must uncover everything, not merely one licensing location. It is reasonable to suspect that many other locations are under his control.
“This will reveal other owners or backers behind the operation. Although prosecution officials may already know who actually owns these locations, it remains crucial to establish who has opened illegal operations there,” he stated.
Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, Director of Special Criminal Investigation for the Attorney General’s Office, explained that suspect Sudianto acquired PT QSS in 2017, which held an exploration mining permit issued under West Kalimantan Governor Decree Number 210/DISTAMBEN/2016, dated 7 April 2016.