Sleman Prosecutor's Office Responds to Revocation of Raudi Akmal's Suspect Status

The suspect status of Raudi Akmal, implicated in the alleged corruption of tourism grant funds in Sleman Regency for 2020, was revoked by a pre-trial court ruling yesterday (28/7). The Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office (Kejari Sleman) stated it is still studying the pre-trial decision. “Essentially, we are still studying the pre-trial ruling,” said Head of Kejari Sleman, Bambang Yunianto, when contacted on Wednesday (29/7/2026). Bambang confirmed that Kejari Sleman has implemented the judge’s decision by releasing Raudi Akmal from custody. “We carried it out yesterday. The suspect was released from detention yesterday afternoon,” he said. Regarding further legal action, Bambang was not yet willing to disclose Kejari Sleman’s plans. According to him, a decision will be announced after the review of the pre-trial ruling is complete. “We will inform the media about the next steps once we have taken them. For now, we are still studying the ruling,” he stated. Bambang also revealed that Kejari Sleman has received the official copy of the pre-trial decision. The copy of the ruling served as the basis for the prosecution to release Raudi Akmal from the detention centre. “We have received the copy of the ruling. That was the basis for us to release the person concerned from detention,” he concluded. In his consideration, sole judge Ari Prabawa highlighted the arrest. The judge deemed the arrest and the naming of Raudi as a suspect to be legally invalid. “Considering that the pre-trial judge is of the opinion that the arrest of the suspect on the pre-trial applicant carried out by the pre-trial respondent is not legally valid,” said sole judge Ari Prabawa during the reading of the verdict at the Sleman District Court on Tuesday (28/7/2026). Furthermore, the judge ordered Raudi Akmal to be released from detention. This is a consequence of the revocation of the suspect status based on Article 163 paragraph (3) letter a of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code. “In the event that the determination of a suspect is declared invalid, the investigator must release the suspect,” he said. According to the judge, it was not the prosecutor’s detention that was the reason for the invalidity of Raudi Akmal’s suspect status. The pre-trial judge considered that the detention carried out by the investigator at the Sleman District Prosecutor’s Office was in accordance with Article 100 of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code and that there was no proven legal deviation in the detention process. “Considering that the release of the suspect is not based on the legality of the detention carried out by the pre-trial respondent, but rather because it is a statutory order due to the determination of the suspect being declared legally invalid,” he said. Furthermore, after examining the detention documents submitted by the pre-trial applicant, namely the T18 Detention Order and the T2 Official Report of the Execution of the Detention Order, linked to the investigator’s testimony in court, the judge declared that the detention the suspect had undergone remained lawful but was declared invalid by operation of law. “Thus, the detention that the suspect has undergone remains lawful. However, because the determination of the suspect was declared legally invalid, the suspect or pre-trial applicant must still be released from detention,” he said. According to Ari, the same logic applies to an acquittal verdict for a defendant, where the acquitted defendant must be immediately released from detention. However, this does not mean that the detention that has been served was unlawful. “If so, the petition number 5 regarding the Detention Order being invalid must be rejected,” he said.