Pakubuwono XIV Purbaya Sues Culture Minister Fadli Zon in Administrative Court

The Pakubuwono XIV Purbaya faction has officially sued Culture Minister Fadli Zon at the State Administrative Court (PTUN). A check by CNNIndonesia.com via sipp.ptun-jakarta.go.id shows the lawsuit was registered on 16 April 2026 at the Jakarta PTUN with case number 129/2026/PTUN JKT. The page lists Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwono XIV as the plaintiff, represented by his new legal counsel, Ardi Sasongko. The defendant is listed as the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia. The specific matter being sued over by the PB XIV Purbaya side at the Jakarta PTUN remains unknown. The PB XIV Purbaya faction did not respond when contacted by CNNIndonesia.com regarding the lawsuit. However, in mid-January 2026, the Purbaya side sent an objection letter to Fadli Zon concerning the issuance of Ministerial Decree No. 8 of 2026 and the Director General of Cultural Protection and Heritage Decree No. 21/L/KB.09.06.2026. In those decrees, Fadli Zon appointed Panembahan Agung Tedjowulan as the Executor of Preservation and Utilisation of the Surakarta Palace. PB XIV Purbaya’s legal counsel at the time, Billy Suryowibowo, hoped that Culture Minister Fadli Zon would review the two decrees. Billy has since resigned as legal counsel for PB XIV Purbaya. According to Billy, the issuance of the decrees was not carried out transparently. The PB XIV Purbaya side was not involved at all in the discussion of the decrees. “The issuance of the two decrees clearly contradicts higher statutory provisions,” Billy said at a press conference in Sasanahadi, within the Surakarta Palace complex, on Sunday (18/1). In their objection letter, the PB XIV Purbaya side requested that Fadli Zon cancel and revoke the two decrees. “If within 90 days there is no response or no changes, we will consider it an unlawful act. We will then file this as a lawsuit at the PTUN,” Billy stated.