SETARA Institute Urges 'Team 9' to Prevent Irregularities in Febrie Adriansyah Case
Jakarta, VIVA – Hendardi, chair of the SETARA Institute’s National Council, has highlighted the use of the phrases ‘has rendered service’ and ‘presumption of innocence’ in the case of former Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Febrie Adriansyah (FA). He views them as a systematic neutralisation manoeuvre against the corruption and money laundering (TPPU) charges processed by the Indonesian National Police’s anti-corruption task force (Kortastipidkor).
‘The use of these phrases is clearly an attempt to neutralise the corruption and money laundering offences he is suspected of. This is an attempt to wound the supremacy of law,’ Hendardi said in a written statement on Saturday, 26 July 2026.
Hendardi stressed that the phrases emerging in the public narrative surrounding the Febrie Adriansyah case are not mere rhetoric, but rather instruments strategically designed to weaken the integrity of the legal process.
‘The supremacy of law cannot be subordinated to considerations of past service or twisted interpretations of the fundamental principles of criminal law,’ he said.
Every citizen, he continued, and in particular state officials suspected of committing serious crimes, must face the legal process fully and equally, without exception.
Hendardi urged Task Force 9 to make the supremacy of law the highest, non-negotiable principle in handling the Febrie Adriansyah case.
He argued that every political manoeuvre with the potential to derail the handling of the case must be identified, resisted, and prevented as early as possible by all elements of Task Force 9, which bear responsibility for the integrity of the national legal process.
He emphasised that Task Force 9 must ensure there is no political intervention of any kind capable of shifting the legal foundation of the case’s handling.
‘The legal process must proceed in accordance with applicable regulations, free from external pressure or institutional lobbying that could undermine the objectivity of the prosecution,’ he said.
On the other hand, he said, the transfer of the case file from the National Police to the Attorney General’s Office must be closely supervised to ensure that no elements of the charges are weakened, removed, or reconstructed to accommodate particular interests.
‘The Febrie Adriansyah case is not merely an individual criminal matter, but a test of the institutional resilience of the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office in defending the independence of the legal process from political pressure. The outcome of this case will set an important precedent for the handling of corruption cases involving high-ranking officials in the future,’ he said.