Judge Rules Raudi Akmal's Corruption Suspect Status Invalid, Orders Release

The Sleman District Court (PN) has granted a pre-trial motion concerning the suspect status of Raudi Akmal, who was accused of corruption involving Sleman Regency’s 2020 tourism grant funds. As a result of the ruling, the suspect status of the son of the former Regent of Sleman has been annulled.

Sole judge Ari Prabawa set out a number of considerations before granting the pre-trial motion, ruling that the arrest and suspect designation against Raudi were not legally valid.

“Considering that the pre-trial judge is of the opinion that the arrest of the suspect, that is the pre-trial applicant, carried out by the respondent was not lawful,” Ari Prabawa said when reading the verdict at the Sleman District Court on Tuesday (28/7/2026).

The judge ordered that Raudi Akmal be released from detention. This is a consequence of the annulment of his suspect status, based on Article 163 paragraph (3) letter a of Law Number 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).

“As a consequence of the ruling that the suspect designation is not valid, the investigators must release the suspect,” he said.

Suspect designation not valid

The judge ruled that it was not the prosecutors’ detention that rendered Raudi Akmal’s suspect designation invalid. According to the judge, the detention carried out by investigators at the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office was in accordance with Article 100 of Law Number 20 of 2025 on the Criminal Procedure Code, and no legal irregularities were proven in the detention process.

“Considering that the release of the suspect is not based on whether the detention carried out by the pre-trial respondent was valid or not, but rather because it is mandated by law, since the suspect designation has been declared not legally valid,” he said.

Furthermore, after examining the detention documents submitted by the pre-trial applicant — namely the T18 Detention Order and the T2 Official Report on the Execution of the Detention Order — alongside the investigators’ testimony in court, the judge stated that the detention already served by the suspect remained valid, but was declared invalid as a matter of law.

“Therefore the detention already served by the suspect remains valid. However, because the suspect designation has been declared not legally valid, the suspect or pre-trial applicant must still be released from detention,” he said.

According to Ari, the same logic applies to acquittal verdicts for defendants, whereby a defendant who is acquitted must be immediately released from detention. This does not mean, however, that the detentions already served were invalid.

“On that basis, petitum number 5, which sought a declaration that the Detention Order was invalid, must be rejected,” he said.

Raudi Akmal’s camp responds

In response to the court’s ruling, Raudi Akmal’s side maintained that what the prosecutors had done was mistaken.

“Thank God there is still justice in the Republic of Indonesia regarding the suspect designation. From the start we believed that what was carried out by the respondent, the Head of the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office, was deeply flawed,” said Raudi Akmal’s lawyer, Soepriyadi, speaking to journalists at the Sleman District Court on Tuesday (28/7/2026).

According to Soepriyadi, the designation of Raudi as a suspect by the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office was procedurally defective.

“From the start we made clear this was a procedural defect, that law enforcement was not being carried out fairly as we have all witnessed. And it has been proven in this court that justice will always prevail,” he said.

Hasty suspect designation

Regarding the procedural defects, Soepriyadi explained that the suspect designation appeared rushed. In his view, it violated the principle of due process of law, the legal principle guaranteeing that everyone has the right to fair treatment, protection of human rights, and a lawful judicial process before the state can deprive them of their liberty, rights, or property.

“In the considerations of the Yogyakarta Corruption Court verdict, which we heard together, it was stated that Raudi was not involved. The High Court upheld that,” he said.

“In other words, the judges of the Yogyakarta Corruption Court had already said that Mas Raudi Akmal was not involved, yet he was still forced to be designated a suspect,” Soepriyadi added.

Soepriyadi further noted that regarding the audit of state losses, based on Constitutional Court rulings, the body with authority over such matters is the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). However, the evidence used in this case, he said, was an audit by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) for the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY).

“Secondly, there is the issue of the audit. From the start I said there was no evidence. Article 603 is clear: there must be state losses to apply that article. It is clear,” he said.

“And based on the Constitutional Court ruling, who has the authority to audit state finances? The BPK, clearly. So there was no BPK audit. What they used was still the BPKP audit,” Soepriyadi added.

Soepriyadi said his side would still discuss their next legal steps following the pre-trial ruling.

“As for the next steps, we will first discuss with colleagues what options are available. In essence, besides Mas Raudi, I am also counsel for Pak Sri Purnomo, and we will focus on the appeal (kasasi) matter,” he said.

Previously, the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office designated Sleman Regency Regional House (DPRD) member Raudi Akmal as a suspect in the alleged corruption of Sleman Regency’s 2020 tourism grant funds. Raudi was immediately detained and taken to the Class II A Yogyakarta Detention Centre, also known as Wirogunan Prison.

Raudi, the son of former Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo, was designated a suspect after failing to appear twice for questioning by investigators. Only on the third summons did Raudi appear, at which point investigators immediately designated him a suspect.

“Today, Monday 22 June 2026, Sleman District Prosecutor’s investigators upgraded the status of a witness and designated him a suspect in the development of the alleged corruption case involving the mismanagement of tourism grant funds in Sleman Regency in 2020,” said Head of the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office Bambang Yunianto in a statement to journalists at the prosecutor’s office on Monday evening (22/6).