Prosecutors Urged Not to Easily Designate Village Heads as Suspects
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Attorney General ST Burhanuddin has urged his subordinates not to hastily designate village heads (kades) as suspects if the discovered errors are merely administrative in nature and there is no evidence of fund misappropriation.
“To the heads of district prosecutor’s offices (Kajari), once again, I entrust you: there should be no criminalisation. Avoid, yes, avoid making village heads suspects, unless the funds are indeed used by the village head,” he stated in his speech at the Jaga Desa Award 2026 in Jakarta on Sunday evening.
He stressed that there must be no criminalisation of village heads without evidence of village funds being used outside the proper channels. If criminalisation occurs, he will hold his subordinates accountable.
“Perhaps for getting remarried or something. And that happens. If the money is truly used, go ahead, but if it’s an administrative error, you make the village head a suspect, I will be responsible for your actions and I will demand accountability from you,” he said.
The Attorney General added that village heads are positions elected by the community without the necessary knowledge of government administration or financial accountability.
Therefore, ST Burhanuddin emphasised the need for guidance to village heads, including from the prosecutor’s offices in the regions.
“Please, the Kajari, they don’t know. In fact, if such things happen, you are legally obliged to provide guidance,” he said.
According to him, accountability for village administrative errors should be sought from the relevant agencies, not from the village heads.
“If you demand accountability, from whom can it be obtained? It is the district village government agency that must be held most accountable, not the village head. They are the ones who should be primarily responsible if anything happens in the village,” he said.
Nevertheless, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Village Consultative Bodies (Abpednas), he hopes there will be no more disgraceful acts in the village environment, especially corruption.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of village heads/sub-district heads in Indonesia in 2025 reaches 76,171.
Meanwhile, an ANTARA search indicates that the latest data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) and BPS for the 2025/2026 fiscal year shows the number of village-level areas in Indonesia is around 84,276.
This figure encompasses all the smallest administrative task units in Indonesia, consisting of: 75,265 villages or areas receiving Village Fund allocations, 8,486 urban villages, and 37 transmigration settlement units.