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View all search resultsEx-minister Thomas Lembong appeals graft conviction
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Thomas Lembong, accused in a corruption case involving raw sugar imports, attends the reading of the indictment on March 6 at the Jakarta Corruption Court. (Antara Foto/Rivan Awal Lingga)
F
ormer trade minister Thomas Lembong has filed an appeal of his prison sentence in a corruption conviction related to his sugar import policy when serving under then-president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo from 2015 to 2016.
Lembong’s legal team lodged the appeal with the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, seeking to overturn the Jakarta Corruption Court’s verdict last Friday that sentenced the former minister to four years and six months in prison for the policy he enacted a decade ago.
“Based on legal reasoning and the factual findings presented during the trial, the verdict is full of inconsistencies. Therefore, we are appealing,” Zaid Mushafi, one of Lembong’s lawyers, said on Tuesday, Antara reported.
According to Zaid, the legal team will submit its arguments once its request is registered with the court.
“In the memorandum of appeal, we will include all the irregularities we found from the panel of judges’ conclusions that did not align with the evidence presented in court,” Zaid added.
A key point that the legal team contested for the defense’s argument is the absence of criminal intent in Lembong’s actions. Zaid noted that the judges found no evidence that the former minister ever communicated with the other defendants.
This contradiction has been echoed by a growing number of independent law experts and activists after the trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court last Friday.
