Supporting Jonas Salean, Dozens of IMM Students Burn Tyres at NTT Attorney General's Office
Dozens of students from the Regional Leadership Council (DPD) of the Muhammadiyah Student Association (IMM) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) held a protest in front of the Office of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati) NTT on Tuesday (12/5/2026). They accused authorities of criminalising the mayor of Kupang for the 2012-2017 period, Jonas Salean.
During the action, which took place around 11:00 WITA, the crowd burned two tyres. IMM action coordinator Faridum called on law enforcement to respect the Supreme Court (MA) acquittal decision in the alleged corruption case involving Kupang City Government assets against Jonas in 2021.
Jonas has now become a defendant again in the same case, but with a different object. Jonas was demanded a six-year prison sentence in a hearing at the Kupang Corruption Court on 6 May 2026.
“We demand respect for the MA decision which states that Jonas Salean is not guilty of corruption involving Kupang Regency assets,” said Faridum.
He revealed the results of IMM NTT’s study, which assessed that the Kupang District Court had decided the case correctly based on legal facts and valid evidence, as stated in Decision Number 149/PDT.G/2019 dated 17 March 2020.
In that decision, the Kupang District Court stated that the land under Certificate of Ownership (SHM) Number 839 in the name of Jonas Salean is legally owned. “The SPTK from 1989 has also been declared not as evidence of land ownership,” stated the IMM NTT study.
IMM NTT emphasised that the decision had been upheld by the Kupang High Court through Decision Number 60/PDT/2019 and the Supreme Court through Decision Number 576K/PDT/2021, which rejected all legal efforts by the Kupang Regency Government.
“Even the execution of the decision is said to have been carried out based on the Minutes of Execution Number 58/Pdt.P.Eks/2025/PN.KPG dated 8 December 2025, where the land has been handed over to Jonas Salean and the Kupang Regency Government was ordered to remove it from the regional asset list,” explained Faridum.
The crowd, which protested until 12:42 WITA, was eventually received by Deputy Attorney General of NTT Wahyu Sabrudin. “We cannot comment on this case because the process is currently ongoing in court. We cannot discuss a case that is currently being processed in court,” said Wahyu.
The same sentiment was expressed by the Assistant Special Crimes Prosecutor (Aspidsus) of Kejati NTT, Alfonsius Gebhard Loe Mau, who stated that the handling of the Jonas Salean case has followed standard operating procedures (SOP).
“What we have done is in accordance with SOP. Initially, this case involved four people, so there is no criminalisation,” said Alfons.
He also denied any political elements in criminalising Jonas Salean. “There is no political element. Because Jonas participated in the political constellation in 2019, this case only proceeded to court,” he said.
Alfons emphasised that the decision rests with the judge to determine whether someone is guilty or not in a case. “So to decide whether someone is right or wrong depends on the judge. Whether he is right or wrong depends on the judge’s consideration, according to the evidence and trial facts and the consideration of the panel of judges in this case process,” he explained.
Kejati NTT has detained Jonas since 16 October 2025. Jonas was designated as a suspect in the transfer of Kupang Regency assets on Jalan Veteran, Fatululi Village, Oebobo Sub-district, Kupang City.
Prosecutors stated that Jonas was involved in the sale of Kupang Regency assets to two previous suspects, Hartono Fransiscus Xaverius and Petrus Krisin, while serving as Mayor of Kupang for the 2012-2017 period. It was stated that in that case, the Kupang Regency Government suffered a loss of more than Rp 5.9 billion.