Deputy Chair of Commission II Claims Ignorance of Hery Susanto's Alleged Corruption Involvement During Ombudsman Selection
Jakarta - The Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Commission II, Zulfikar Arse, admitted he was unaware of any alleged involvement by Hery Susanto in a corruption case during the selection process for the Ombudsman RI leadership.
“To be honest, we did not know exactly about that issue, and when the fit and proper test was conducted, we fully trusted what was produced by the selection team,” Zulfikar said when met at the House of Representatives building on Friday (17/4/2026).
“Of course, the selection team also worked very well at that time, transparently and objectively, so when they produced 18 names brought to the House, we assumed those were the best,” Zulfikar added.
“We just had to select nine from those 18 who were the best of the best, and according to us, those eight or nine were indeed worthy and appropriate for us to choose at that time,” he said.
Nevertheless, Commission II expressed regret over the case now ensnaring the Ombudsman RI Chair and urged that this incident serve as a lesson for state officials.
The Golkar politician emphasised that Commission II is leaving the handling of the case entirely to law enforcement authorities.
“If it is related to the law, of course we must follow it and hand it over completely to the procedures, mechanisms, and applicable legal rules in our country,” he stated.
“If there was indeed any mistake on our part in Commission II in carrying out supervisory functions, especially, we apologise to the public, including when we conducted the fit and proper test on the person in question when we were about to choose them again,” Zulfikar revealed.
Regarding the mechanism for appointing the next Ombudsman leadership, he noted that it falls under the internal authority of the institution as per the law.
“According to the existing law, it is handed over to the Ombudsman itself. At the beginning, when they were to be selected and to determine the chair and deputy chair, it was Commission II, but as I recall, once it is running, there is its own mechanism regulated by law and handed over to the internal Ombudsman,” Zulfikar concluded.
Director of Investigations from the Attorney General’s Office Special Criminal Deputy Attorney General Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi stated that Hery has been named a suspect for allegedly receiving money amounting to Rp 1.5 billion from an individual with initials LKM, the director of a company with initials PT TSHI.
He explained that the case stemmed from an issue regarding the calculation of Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) faced by PT TSHI with the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut). In an effort to resolve the matter, the company allegedly sought a way out by involving Hery Susanto.
“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,” Syarief said. After being named a suspect, Hery was detained for the first 20 days at the Salemba Detention House Branch of the Attorney General’s Office.
Final answertrueLegalDeputy Chair of Commission II Claims Ignorance of Hery Susanto’s Alleged Corruption Involvement During Ombudsman SelectionZulfikar Arse, Deputy Chair of Indonesia’s House Commission II, stated he was unaware of Hery Susanto’s alleged involvement in a corruption case during the selection process for Ombudsman leaders, expressing full trust in the selection team’s recommendations that resulted in 18 candidates from which nine were chosen. Amid the ongoing case where Hery, the Ombudsman Chair, faces charges for receiving Rp 1.5 billion in bribes related to resolving a state revenue dispute for a forestry company, Commission II has voiced concern and deferred the matter to law enforcement while apologising for any oversight in their supervisory role. This scandal highlights potential vulnerabilities in the appointment mechanisms for key oversight institutions like the Ombudsman, which handles public complaints against government services.Jakarta - The Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Commission II, Zulfikar Arse, admitted he was unaware of any alleged involvement by Hery Susanto in a corruption case during the selection process for the Ombudsman RI leadership.
“To be honest, we did not know exactly about that issue, and when the fit and proper test was conducted, we fully trusted what was produced by the selection team,” Zulfikar said when met at the House of Representatives building on Friday (17/4/2026).
“Of course, the selection team also worked very well at that time, transparently and objectively, so when they produced 18 names brought to the House, we assumed those were the best,” Zulfikar added.
“We just had to select nine from those 18 who were the best of the best, and according to us, those eight or nine were indeed worthy and appropriate for us to choose at that time,” he said.
Nevertheless, Commission II expressed regret over the case now ensnaring the Ombudsman RI Chair and urged that this incident serve as a lesson for state officials.
The Golkar politician emphasised that Commission II is leaving the handling of the case entirely to law enforcement authorities.
“If it is related to the law, of course we must follow it and hand it over completely to the procedures, mechanisms, and applicable legal rules in our country,” he stated.
“If there was indeed any mistake on our part in Commission II in carrying out supervisory functions, especially, we apologise to the public, including when we conducted the fit and proper test on the person in question when we were about to choose them again,” Zulfikar revealed.
Regarding the mechanism for appointing the next Ombudsman leadership, he noted that it falls under the internal authority of the institution as per the law.
“According to the existing law, it is handed over to the Ombudsman itself. At the beginning, when they were to be selected and to determine the chair and deputy chair, it was Commission II, but as I recall, once it is running, there is its own mechanism regulated by law and handed over to the internal Ombudsman,” Zulfikar concluded.
Director of Investigations from the Attorney General’s Office Special Criminal Deputy Attorney General Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi stated that Hery has been named a suspect for allegedly receiving money amounting to Rp 1.5 billion from an individual with initials LKM, the director of a company with initials PT TSHI.
He explained that the case stemmed from an issue regarding the calculation of Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) faced by PT TSHI with the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut). In an effort to resolve the matter, the company allegedly sought a way out by involving Hery Susanto.
“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,” Syarief said. After being named a suspect, Hery was detained for the first 20 days at the Salemba Detention House Branch of the Attorney General’s Office.