Less Than a Week After Taking Oath, RI Ombudsman Chairman Named Corruption Suspect

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Hery Susanto was arrested by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in a nickel mining case less than a week after taking his oath as Chairman of the Indonesian Ombudsman. On Friday (10/4/2026), Hery, dressed in a black suit and wearing a peci cap, took the oath as Chairman of the Ombudsman, witnessed by President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace in Jakarta. “I swear by Allah, I promise by God; that to obtain this position, directly or indirectly, by using any name or method whatsoever, I have not given or promised anything to anyone,” said the nine Ombudsman members, including Hery, reciting an excerpt of the oath at the Palace last week. The situation changed rapidly. On Thursday (16/4/2026), the AGO named Hery Susanto as a suspect in an alleged corruption case related to the management of nickel mining operations in Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra). Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, Anang Supriatna, stated that the suspect designation was based on sufficient evidence. “The investigation team has named suspect HS,” said Anang during a press conference at the AGO in Jakarta on Thursday (16/4/2026). The case began when the owner of PT TSHI, initialled LD, faced issues with the calculation of non-tax state revenue (PNBP) by the Ministry of Forestry and objected to paying the obligations. “Then, Mr HS (Hery Susanto), who served as an Ombudsman Commissioner for the 2021-2026 period, offered to assist by conducting an inspection of the Ministry of Forestry, ostensibly starting from a public complaint,” said Anang Supriatna, Head of the AGO’s Legal Information Centre, in his statement on Thursday (16/4/2026). “As a result, it was corrected by the Ombudsman with an order for PT TSHI to calculate the burden payable to the state themselves,” he added. To facilitate this plan, Hery and parties from PT TSHI held several meetings in April 2025. During those meetings, the Director of PT TSHI, initialled LKM, asked Hery to find administrative errors in the PNBP calculation for the Forest Area Borrowing Permit (IPPKH) as stated in the Ministry of Forestry’s decision. “With the agreement that Mr HS would receive money amounting to Rp1.5 billion,” Anang added. After that, Hery manipulated and issued the Ombudsman Inspection Result Report (LHP) in accordance with the agreement with PT TSHI.