Observer Urges Attorney General's Office Not to Be Selective in Probing MBG Corruption

The Attorney General’s Office has been urged to be transparent about all parties involved in the alleged governance corruption case of the Free Nutritious Meals programme at the National Nutrition Agency for 2025-2026. It is known that investigators have named former BGN Head Dadan Hindayana, former BGN Deputy Head Lodewyk Pusung, and Sony Sonjaya as suspects. Legal observer Kamilov Sagala urged Jampidsus investigators at the Attorney General’s Office not to be selective in naming suspects in the BGN corruption case currently being handled. “Remember President Prabowo’s message: if the head of the fish is rotten, then the body and the rest are also rotten. Do not pick and choose who else to name as a suspect,” Kamilov said via a statement on Tuesday. He said that if prosecutors were selective, it would put the reputation of the Attorney General’s Office at great stake in the eyes of the Indonesian people. For this reason, the Attorney General’s Office was also asked to be open about which parties participated in the programme, so that there is no conflict of interest, especially considering the position of Reda Manthovani as the Junior Attorney General for Intelligence. “If the Attorney General’s Office still has independence and professionalism in its performance, then it will be a positive achievement for the institution currently led by Attorney General Burhanudin,” he said. Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch previously revealed that a number of SPPG foundations are affiliated with law enforcement officials, namely the Yayasan Inklusi Pelita Bangsa, which is allegedly connected to individuals in the Attorney General’s Office, and Yayasan Kemala Bhayangkari, which is allegedly connected to the police. ICW researcher Seira Tamara assessed that the involvement of law enforcement officials in managing SPPG would actually be dangerous for future supervision and legal enforcement processes related to cases in the MBG programme. “What if in the future a number of problems are found, whether it be food poisoning or alleged corruption behind the implementation of MBG? This would certainly be very difficult to oversee if the law enforcement officials themselves were involved in the MBG implementation process,” said Seira. The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the alleged buying and selling of recommendations for the establishment of SPPG in the MBG corruption case that has ensnared Dadan Hindayana and others. The Attorney General’s Office was still conducting search operations at a number of locations in the Jakarta area on Thursday related to the alleged MBG corruption case. He said that investigators only took samples, while the rest could still be used by the SPPG.