Pigai Speaks Out After Being Sued by Subordinate to PTUN Over Transfer

Human Rights Minister (HAM) Natalius Pigai has spoken out after being sued at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) by one of his own staff members, Ernie Nurheyanti M. Toelle, regarding a job transfer.

In a working meeting with Commission XIII of the House of Representatives today, Tuesday (7/4), Member of Commission XIII from the PDIP Faction, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, asked Pigai about the matter.

Pigai claimed to be the only minister who has never sidelined staff. He stated that the employee was transferred, not sidelined.

“This is how it is: with my statement in parliament that I am a minister who has never sidelined staff, it means that if I transfer someone, it is based on professional standards. So, Mrs Yanti, why did I transfer you? It was a transfer, not a sidelining,” said Pigai.

Pigai explained that last year he gathered officials both at the centre and in the regions. He requested maximum performance and improved budget absorption.

He noted that after evaluation, the unit under Yanti had the lowest absorption rate.

“The place where Mrs Yanti was the Authorised Budget User (KPA) achieved only 89 percent. I targeted 99.99 percent budget absorption in the Ministry of Human Rights. Because of the low absorption in her unit, where she was the authorised budget user at only 89 percent, my target dropped from 99.99 percent to 99 point something,” he said.

At that time, he gathered officials and stated that he would remove those with low absorption.

“I am a minister who transfers officials openly. I spoke with all officials. Here is the Secretary General, here is the Inspector General. I never transfer or appoint people secretly; I speak openly,” he said.

He admitted that he offered to move Yanti to the North Sumatra Regional Office. However, Yanti rejected the offer.

“I offered her to become the head of the North Sumatra Regional Office, but she did not want to. Then, ‘fine, you choose yourself.’ She chose a functional position herself. Even that did not involve a demotion; it was a lateral transfer in the same place,” he said.

Pigai claimed that after Yanti sued at the PTUN, he offered money from his personal pocket to pay for her lawyer.

“I offered: the Human Rights Minister’s personal funds to pay for the lawyer. Who else would pay for a lawsuit against us? Only the Human Rights Minister would do that,” he said.

Previously, Ernie Nurheyanti M. Toelle sued Pigai regarding the job transfer.

The lawsuit was filed by Ernie after she was reassigned from her position as Secretary of the Directorate General of Human Rights Services and Compliance (echelon IIA position) to Human Rights Analyst Expert Mid-level.

The job change was outlined in the Minister of Human Rights Decree Number: MHA-14 KP.04.04 dated 23 January 2026.

This unilateral decision sparked resistance.

Through her legal team, Deby Astuti Fangidae and Mordentika Sagala, Yanti assessed that the job transfer was made through a decision that was not transparent and objective.

“This Decree has violated administrative procedures and was issued without going through a transparent and objective decision-making mechanism,” said the legal counsel in a written statement, Tuesday (10/3).