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Judges who acquitted palm oil firms of corruption arrested
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Illustration of a judge handing down sentence in a court. (Shutterstock/Prilutskiy)
T
he Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has arrested three judges on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for acquitting three major palm oil groups from corruption charges last month, expanding their investigation following the arrest of a court official over the weekend for the same allegation.
In a press conference on Monday morning, the AGO said three judges at the Central Jakarta District Court – Agam Syarif Baharuddin, Ali Muhtarom and Djuyamto – were arrested before midnight.
Their verdict on March 19 of this year cleared three major palm oil companies — the Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group and Musim Mas Group — of corruption last month when obtaining permits for exporting crude palm oil and its derivatives in 2022, at a time when shipments were restricted.
Their arrest followed the arrest of four first suspects on Saturday, including Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, who was the Central Jakarta District Court deputy head at the start of the trial of the three companies in early 2024 until he assumed a new post elsewhere in November of the same year.
Arif is accused of arranging a favorable verdict and paying off the three judges he picked for the trial after accepting Rp 60 billion (US$3.5 million) in bribes from two lawyers representing the companies.
Before the first trial started early last year, Arif allegedly distributed Rp 4.5 billion in bribes to the three judges. Later, from September to October 2024, Arif allegedly gave Rp 18 billion to Djuyamto, who divided it among the three judges. Agam received Rp 4.5 billion, Djuyamto Rp 6 billion and Ali Rp 5 billion.
"They all knew that the intent of receiving the money was so that [their verdict] on March 19 of this year would be an acquittal," AGO spokesman Harli Siregar said on Monday.
