Case of Ombudsman Chairman and DPR Selection Committee Oversight...

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Just one week into his tenure as Ombudsman Chairman, Hery Susanto was designated as a suspect by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Thursday (16/4/2026). Ironically, this suspect designation in the alleged corruption case concerning nickel governance in Southeast Sulawesi occurred only six days after his inauguration on Friday (10/4/2026). The Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, stated that the case implicating Hery originated from PT TSHI, which faced issues with the calculation of non-tax state revenue (PNBP) by the Ministry of Forestry. “Subsequently, Mr HS (Hery Susanto), serving as an Ombudsman Commissioner for the 2021-2026 period, offered to assist by conducting an inspection of the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, ostensibly stemming from a public complaint,” Anang said in his statement on Thursday. Anang explained that Hery assisted by correcting the Ministry of Forestry’s calculation results, claiming there was an error, thereby exempting PT TSHI from paying a fine. “Therefore, the correction was made by the Ombudsman with instructions for PT TSHI to perform its own calculation of the obligations payable to the state,” he added. To facilitate this plan, Hery and representatives from PT TSHI held several meetings in April 2025. During these meetings, the Director of PT TSHI, initialled LKM, requested that Hery identify administrative errors in the PNBP calculation for the Forest Area Borrowing Permit (IPPKH) as outlined in the Ministry of Forestry’s decision. Subsequently, Hery manipulated and issued the Ombudsman’s Inspection Result Report (LHP) in accordance with the agreement with PT TSHI. For his actions, Hery is suspected of violating Article 12 letter a, Article 12 letter b, Article 5, and Article 606 of the Criminal Code.