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AGO suggests death penalty for Pertamina graft suspects
Attorney General ST Burhanuddin has suggested that suspects in a corruption case pertaining to fuel imports at state energy giant Pertamina could receive the death penalty as they committed their crimes during COVID-19, which was a national disaster.
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An attendant holds a fuel nozzle at a gas station in Jakarta on March 7, 2025. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)
T
he Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has opened up the possibility of pursuing capital punishment against suspects in the corruption case pertaining to fuel imports at state energy holding firm Pertamina.
Over the few past weeks, the AGO has named nine suspects for alleged involvement in an embezzlement scheme surrounding fuel imports that is estimated to have cost the state nearly Rp 1 quadrillion (US$61 billion).
Six of the nine suspects are senior executives of Pertamina subsidiaries, including PT Pertamina Patra Niaga president director Riva Siahaan. The rest were executives of private oil and gas companies, including Kerry Adrianto, the son of oil tycoon Riza Chalid.
The suspects allegedly manipulated Pertamina’s oil import and export deals from 2018 to 2023 by reducing refinery output to force imports through rigged tenders with inflated prices. The scheme also involved the alleged procurement of lower-octane subsidized gasoline to be sold fraudulently at a higher price
Read also: Pertamina apologizes for graft-ridden fuel import scandal
During a press briefing on Thursday, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin said that his office might seek the death penalty for the nine suspects on the grounds that the corruption took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020.
“We’ll examine the investigation results to see whether there are any aggravating factors, given that they committed the crime during the COVID pandemic,” Burhanuddin said.
