Expert in Febrie Adriansyah Pretrial Hearing: Naming a Suspect Does Not Require Prior Examination

Criminal law expert Marcus Priyo gave testimony as an expert in the pretrial hearing for the money laundering case of former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes Febrie Adriansyah at the South Jakarta District Court on Friday (21/8/2026). He asserted that naming a person a suspect does not have to be preceded by an examination.

Marcus explained that the provision regarding the examination of a prospective suspect is contained in the legal considerations of a Constitutional Court ruling and is not absolute. “The order to examine a prospective suspect is not stated in the ruling of the Constitutional Court. There are exceptions; the provision is not absolute,” Marcus said.

He added that the provision in the new Criminal Procedure Code likewise does not oblige investigators to first examine a person who is to be named a suspect. He referred to Article 92 of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which stipulates that investigators may seek assistance from the public or the media to locate a suspect. According to him, this provision indicates the possibility that a person may already have suspect status even though they have never physically been examined by investigators.

“This means an investigator may never have examined the suspect and can therefore seek help to find them. Under the Criminal Procedure Code, naming a suspect is not required to be preceded by an examination,” he concluded.