Riva Siahaan and Yoki Firnandi File Appeals Against Oil Case Verdict

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Chief Executive Officer of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga (PPN), Riva Siahaan, and the Chief Executive Officer of PT Pertamina International Shipping (PT PIS), Yoki Firnandi, have formally lodged appeals against the verdict in the corruption case concerning the governance of crude oil and refinery products at PT Pertamina Persero. “The Defence Team for Defendant Riva Siahaan, Maya Kusmaya, and Edward Corne, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, filed appeals against the decision of the Panel of Judges of the Corruption Court at the District Court of Central Jakarta, which was read in the proceedings on Thursday, 26 February 2026,” Riva’s lawyer Kresna Hutauruk said in a statement on Thursday, 5 March 2026. In this case, Riva and Maya Kusmaya were sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment, while Edward Corne was sentenced to ten years. The three defendants filed appeals because the panel’s verdict, led by Fajar Kusuma Aji, did not accord with the trial facts. “Because the decision is not in accordance with the trial facts, which showed no mens rea and no wrongdoing as the cause of loss,” Kresna said. “Pertamina Patra Niaga was, in fact, shown to have benefited from the defendants’ actions; there was no loss,” he added. They are Riva Siahaan, CEO of PT PIS; Yoki Firnandi, CEO of PT KPI; Sani Dinar Saifuddin, Director of Feedstock and Product Optimisation at PT KPI; and Agus Purwono, Vice President (VP) of Feedstock Management at PT KPI. “We have filed the appeal today,” Yoki’s counsel, Dion Pongkor and colleagues, told Kompas.com. Dion explained that his client appealed because the verdict did not reflect the facts revealed in court. “Clearly there is no loss, no wrongdoing; they did not accept bribes, they did not conspire to harm the state; the considerations show no mens rea, and the business decisions taken were standard SOPs that apply at Pertamina,” Dion said.