Pre-trial Hearing for Lee Kah Hin: Haris Azhar Raises Business Competition Concerns

Jakarta – Lee Kah Hin, director of PT Wana Kencana Mineral (WKM), has filed a pre-trial motion with the South Jakarta District Court regarding his designation as a suspect and detention by Metro Jaya Police investigators.

His legal counsel, Haris Azhar, stated that the motion was filed because they believe there are several irregularities in the legal process affecting his client.

According to him, one of the key issues raised in the pre-trial motion is that the investigation commenced before a court ruling, which should have served as the basis for the false statement charge.

“The most important and absurd thing is that the investigation has already begun while the court ruling has not yet been issued. Yet the evidence should be based on the court ruling,” Haris said at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, 9 March 2026.

Furthermore, Haris contends that this case cannot be separated from a business conflict between companies operating in the nickel mining area.

“Outside this process, I want to say that this case is essentially a ‘trade war’ dispute. This is where human rights become important, because state instruments are being used for commercial manoeuvring between two companies,” Haris said.

He identified the complainant in the case as representing the interests of PT Position. “The complainant, Ardianto, represents the interests of PT Position,” Haris stated.

Haris also noted that PT Position is a publicly listed company with the stock code HRUM, or Harum Energy. “The beneficial owner is Kiki Barki, and his son is named Steven,” Haris said.

According to Haris, in documents held by the legal team, PT Position has weak legitimacy for controlling the area that is the subject of the dispute with PT WKM.

“In the documents we have, PT Position is a company with very low legitimacy for controlling PT WKM’s area,” he said.

He also revealed information about Steven Barki’s involvement in the dynamics of the case.

According to Haris, during the process, a settlement document appeared requesting his client to apologise and acknowledge that the land belongs to PT Position.

“During this process, there emerged a settlement document not reported in the media, in which Lee Kah Hin was asked to apologise and acknowledge that the land belongs to PT Position,” Haris said.