KPK Appeals Two-Year Prison Sentence for Riau Governor

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has declared an appeal against the ruling by the panel of judges at the Corruption Court at the Pekanbaru District Court, which sentenced non-active Riau Governor Abdul Wahid to two years in prison. The legal challenge was submitted to the court on Tuesday, 4 August 2026. KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo stated in a written message on Wednesday (5/8) that the KPK prosecution team filed the appeal with the Riau High Court through the Corruption Court at the Pekanbaru District Court. The appeal concerns the verdict for three defendants: non-active Riau Governor Abdul Wahid, Head of the Riau Province Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency Muh Arif Setiawan, and Riau Governor’s Expert Staff Dani M Nursalam. Budi explained the appeal is an exercise of the KPK prosecutors’ authority as regulated in criminal procedural law, following a comprehensive review and study of the legal considerations and the verdict of the panel of judges. He said this legal step also reflects the KPK’s commitment to ensuring the proper application of the law and the realisation of a sense of justice in handling corruption cases. The KPK prosecution team will subsequently prepare and submit a memorandum of appeal containing comprehensive juridical arguments as the basis for requesting the High Court to re-examine the first-instance ruling in accordance with the legal facts and evidence revealed during the trial. ‘The KPK respects the entire ongoing judicial process and believes that the appeal mechanism is part of the criminal justice system to guarantee the achievement of legal certainty, justice, and legal benefit in eradicating corruption,’ Budi stated. Abdul Wahid was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of Rp200 million, subsidiary to 80 days of confinement, plus a replacement payment of Rp1.45 billion, subsidiary to one year and six months in prison. The judge also ruled that the detention period already served by Abdul Wahid be deducted from the imposed sentence, and ordered the defendant to remain in custody and pay court costs of Rp10,000. Abdul Wahid has also declared an appeal, meaning the verdict has not yet obtained permanent legal force. ‘We both heard the judge’s decision. However, from that decision, there were no mitigating considerations for me,’ Abdul Wahid said after the hearing on Thursday (30/7). ‘Hopefully I will get justice and I will continue to seek justice. I feel innocent in this matter and I never did it, but it was truly fabricated. I feel that this is full of fabrication,’ he continued. The KPK prosecutors had previously demanded that Abdul Wahid be sentenced to 8.5 years in prison.