Prosecutors to Appeal Acquittal of NTB Council Members Despite KUHAP No Longer Regulating It
The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) High Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed it will file an appeal against the acquittal of three NTB Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) members in a gratuity case involving ‘silent money’, despite new regulations in the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) no longer providing for legal remedies against acquittals.
“Regarding the verdict in the DPRD NTB gratuity case, the prosecution team will pursue an appeal. This appeal has been communicated with and reported to the leadership,” said Head of Legal Information for the NTB High Prosecutor’s Office, Muhammad Harun Al Rasyid, on Thursday (6/8/2026).
Harun stressed that prosecutors remain convinced of the guilt of Hamdan Kasim, Indra Jaya Usman alias IJU, and Muhammad Nashib Ikroman alias Acip as charged. “We are very confident they are guilty, as stated in the indictment against the defendants,” he said.
According to Harun, the appeal has not yet been lodged as the prosecutor’s office is still awaiting the official copy of the panel of judges’ ruling. “We have not received it yet. That will also be our focus, to scrutinise the contents of the ruling,” he stated.
Harun acknowledged that Article 299 of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code no longer regulates legal remedies against acquittals. Despite this, the prosecutor’s office has opted to proceed with the appeal to seek legal certainty. “To seek legal certainty, we will still pursue this legal remedy. Because in other places, such as other regions, there have been instances where such appeals have been accepted by the court, although it is still uncertain,” he said.
The Mataram Corruption Court panel of judges acquitted the three defendants, ruling that the prosecution’s charges were not proven. However, the judges were convinced that the defendants had indeed given money to a number of DPRD NTB members.
In its considerations, the panel stated that the money was given so that the council members would not obstruct or question the ‘Desa Berdaya’ (Empowered Village) programme, a flagship initiative of NTB Governor Lalu Muhammad Iqbal. However, the judges assessed that the programme fell under the authority of the NTB Provincial Government, not the DPRD. Consequently, the payment was deemed unrelated to the functions, authority, or powers of the council members’ positions.
“The executor of all programme activities in the APBD is the governor, as the head of the region, assisted by regional apparatus work units. The governor is the source of the budget and the technical executor of this governor’s programme, Desa Berdaya. Meanwhile, the NTB DPRD does not have the function and authority to execute the 2025 Provincial APBD, including the governor’s directives,” said Ad Hoc Corruption Court Judge Irawan Ismail.
The panel concluded that the governor’s directive regarding the Desa Berdaya programme had no connection to the official capacity of the DPRD NTB members who received the money. “Therefore, it can be concluded that the money given by the defendants to the DPRD NTB members had no relation or connection to the functions, authority, or powers of the witnesses,” he stated.