Lawyer Highlights PT DKI Ruling, Hopes Supreme Court Acquits Kerry Riza

The legal counsel for Muhamad Kerry Adrianto Riza, the beneficial owner of PT Orbit Terminal Merak (OTM), has claimed that the Jakarta High Court (PT DKI) violated criminal procedure in its ruling against his client and other defendants in the alleged corruption case involving crude oil and refinery products at PT Pertamina. Lawyer Patra M Zen stated that the High Court’s decision to increase the sentence was not based on facts.

Patra highlighted that the PT DKI ruling stated the defendants caused state economic losses based on calculations from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). He firmly denied this, asserting that the BPK never conducted such a calculation for state economic losses in this case. “Even the ruling says the defendants harmed the state economy based on BPK calculations. Where did that story come from? The BPK never calculated state economic losses,” he said during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

Furthermore, Patra criticised the court for adopting a fatal consideration by using a ‘total loss’ concept to calculate state financial losses. He argued this concept is illogical because the fuel terminal owned by OTM, which is the object of the case, is still being rented and used by PT Pertamina. “In Indonesia, Curacao, Cape Verde, anywhere, the concept of total loss means you pay money, but the goods do not exist. It is fictitious,” he explained.

Patra also took issue with the High Court’s decision to increase the compensation payment imposed on Kerry Riza based on a report or analysis from an NGO named Siar Nusantara. He warned that this sets a dangerous precedent for the investment climate in Indonesia, as an investor can be sentenced to pay state economic losses of up to Rp 10.5 trillion based solely on calculations from an NGO. “How can investors not be afraid now? Based on unclear calculations, someone can be charged with paying Rp 10.5 trillion in compensation,” he concluded.