UGM Expert Says AGO's Naming of Febrie as Money Laundering Suspect Followed Procedure

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) presented Dr M Fatahillah Akbar, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Gadjah Mada University (UGM), as an expert in the pretrial hearing filed by former Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah. Fatahillah assessed that the naming of Febrie Adriansyah as a suspect in an alleged money laundering case (TPPU) by the AGO’s Team 9 followed procedure.

Fatahillah initially said the naming of Febrie as a suspect was in accordance with Article 90 of Law Number 20 of 2025 concerning the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP). According to him, there was no problem with the terminology used by the AGO in referring to the case involving Febrie.

“So if the article of the charge has been stated above, the description just needs to be adjusted to the charge. When one wants to use the term trading in influence or use the term other legal violations, I think it is not a problem as long as it is still in line with the article of the charge,” Fatahillah said during Febrie’s pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday (24/8/2026).

Fatahillah said the naming of a suspect by the AGO investigation team, which Febrie disputed, was not appropriate. According to him, the formal requirements for naming a suspect had complied with the rules.

“One of them can be proven by the investigation order mentioned earlier, which contains the names of the investigators. As long as he is included as one of the investigators, then based on the Criminal Procedure Code, the authority exists to name a suspect,” he said.

“So the investigator is explicit and specific because the investigation order is individual. So it is attached to certain people in certain cases,” he continued.

Fatahillah also responded to Febrie’s lawsuit regarding the naming of a suspect by two different institutions. According to him, an investigation is not permitted against an object that already has permanent legal force.

“In this context, as long as each institution has investigative authority, then it does not violate the provisions of procedural law. Secondly, when there is indeed a transfer and so on, just as the police will always transfer and coordinate with the prosecution as well,” he said.

“So that is also a form of prudence when the Attorney General’s Office purely takes over the case, starting from the notification of the start of investigation (SPDP) and the investigation order (sprindik) as a form of prudence and implementation of criminal procedural law. What is not permitted is when a court decision already has permanent legal force, and then it is tested again with a new investigation order against the same object. That is what is not permitted,” he added.

For information, Febrie Adriansyah has been named a suspect in a number of cases. The case involving Febrie was initially handled by the Indonesian National Police. In its development, the police handed over the handling of Febrie’s case to the AGO.

Initially, Febrie was named a suspect for alleged corruption and money laundering related to the ASABRI case. He was named a suspect together with a businessman named Don Ritto.

In addition, Febrie became a suspect in an alleged money laundering case related to the discovery of evidence in the form of 74 kilograms of gold and hundreds of billions of rupiah in cash. The AGO also named another suspect, namely Nurman Herin, in this case.