Latest news with #Lembong
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Jail for former Indonesian trade minister over sugar imports a bitter blow for supporters
One of the architects of the Indonesia-Australia free trade deal and improved bilateral relations has been jailed in what supporters believe was a politically motivated prosecution designed to punish critics of the Indonesian government. Thomas Lembong was jailed for 4½ years for illegally authorising certain sugar imports at the expense of the state when he was serving as the nation's trade minister in 2015-16. Prosecutors requested a prison term of seven years, but a panel of judges gave Lembong a sentencing discount because they accepted he had not enriched himself in any of the supposedly corrupt deals. The Harvard-educated investment banker is respected in Australian political circles for his work in the cabinet of then-president Joko Widodo's cabinet and later as the chief of the country's investment board. Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull credited Lembong with facilitating what became a strong friendship between the Australian leader and Widodo. Loading But Lembong became a critic of Widodo in 2019. Significantly, he also served as an adviser to Anies Baswedan, who ran for president last year and was a serious challenger to Widodo's chosen successor, Prabowo Subianto. Anies could again run for president in 2029. Lembong was arrested in October, days after Prabowo was sworn in as Indonesia's leader and a decade after the supposed crimes. The timing and allegedly 'cherry-picked' charges against a high-profile opponent to the Widodo-Prabowo alliance set off red flags among democracy watchers. High-level corruption is common in Indonesia, and decisions about whom to prosecute and whom to leave alone are, rightly or wrongly, interpreted as signals from powerful people at the top.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Jail for former Indonesian trade minister over sugar imports a bitter blow for supporters
One of the architects of the Indonesia-Australia free trade deal and improved bilateral relations has been jailed in what supporters believe was a politically motivated prosecution designed to punish critics of the Indonesian government. Thomas Lembong was jailed for 4½ years for illegally authorising certain sugar imports at the expense of the state when he was serving as the nation's trade minister in 2015-16. Prosecutors requested a prison term of seven years, but a panel of judges gave Lembong a sentencing discount because they accepted he had not enriched himself in any of the supposedly corrupt deals. The Harvard-educated investment banker is respected in Australian political circles for his work in the cabinet of then-president Joko Widodo's cabinet and later as the chief of the country's investment board. Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull credited Lembong with facilitating what became a strong friendship between the Australian leader and Widodo. Loading But Lembong became a critic of Widodo in 2019. Significantly, he also served as an adviser to Anies Baswedan, who ran for president last year and was a serious challenger to Widodo's chosen successor, Prabowo Subianto. Anies could again run for president in 2029. Lembong was arrested in October, days after Prabowo was sworn in as Indonesia's leader and a decade after the supposed crimes. The timing and allegedly 'cherry-picked' charges against a high-profile opponent to the Widodo-Prabowo alliance set off red flags among democracy watchers. High-level corruption is common in Indonesia, and decisions about whom to prosecute and whom to leave alone are, rightly or wrongly, interpreted as signals from powerful people at the top.
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Indonesia court jails former trade minister for four-and-a-half years in sugar graft case
Former trade minister Thomas Lembong was found guilty of improperly granting sugar import permits. -- PHOTO: REUTERS JAKARTA (Reuters): An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced a former trade minister to 4.5 years in jail for improperly granting sugar import permits that authorities said had caused nearly 600 billion rupiah (US$36.84 million) in state losses. Thomas Trikasih Lembong served as trade minister in 2015 and 2016 under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Once seen as Jokowi's close aide, Lembong turned into one of the government's staunchest critics after leaving office. Judges at the corruption court in the capital Jakarta, said Lembong, as minister, was guilty of improperly granting import permits for sugar to private companies when the Southeast Asian country had a surplus of sugar. Indonesia's sugar output in 2015 was 2.49 million metric tons, while consumption was 2.12 million. In last year's presidential election, Lembong was the campaign manager for candidate Anies Baswedan. The election was won in a landslide by Prabowo Subianto, whom Jokowi backed. Lembong, who was arrested days after Prabowo's inauguration last year, had claimed in court that his prosecution was due to his involvement in the opposition camp, local media reported. Prosecutors had denied that his arrest was politically motivated. "The defendant was proven legally and convincingly to be guilty of having committed a corruption act," Judge Purwanto S. Abdullah said, to jeers from the crowd. Before handing down the sentence, the judges had argued that the import permits did not go through the proper procedures of consulting with other state bodies and that he had prioritised "capitalistic" interests over social justice. However, the judges said he did not enrich himself, leading to a shorter sentence than the seven years prosecutors had demanded. Prosecutors said Lembong had enriched the private companies. Holding up his handcuffed hands, Lembong told reporters after the sentencing that he would consider whether or not to appeal, saying judges had ignored his defence team. His lawyer Ari Yusuf Amir did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Friday. ($1 = 16,285.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto; Editing by Sharon Singleton) - Reuters
New Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Indonesia court jails former trade minister in sugar graft case
JAKARTA: An Indonesian court today sentenced a former trade minister to 4.5 years in jail for improperly granting sugar import permits that authorities said had caused nearly 600 billion rupiah (RM156,155) state losses. Thomas Trikasih Lembong served as trade minister in 2015 and 2016 under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Once seen as Jokowi's close aide, Lembong turned into one of the government's staunchest critics after leaving office. Judges at the corruption court in the capital Jakarta said Lembong, as minister, was guilty of improperly granting import permits for sugar to private companies when the Southeast Asian country had a surplus of sugar. Indonesia's sugar output in 2015 was 2.49 million metric tonnes, while consumption was 2.12 million. In last year's presidential election, Lembong was the campaign manager for candidate Anies Baswedan. The election was won in a landslide by Prabowo Subianto, whom Jokowi backed. Lembong, who was arrested days after Prabowo's inauguration last year, had claimed in court that his prosecution was due to his involvement in the opposition camp, local media reported. Prosecutors had denied his arrest was politically motivated. "The defendant was proven legally and convincingly to be guilty of having committed a corruption act," Judge Purwanto S. Abdullah said, to jeers from the crowd. Before handing the sentence, the judges had argued the import permits did not go through the proper procedures of consulting with other state bodies and that he had prioritised "capitalistic" interests over social justice. However, the judges said he did not enrich himself, leading to a shorter sentence than the seven years prosecutors had demanded. Prosecutors said Lembong had enriched the private companies. Holding up his handcuffed hands, Lembong said after the sentencing that he would consider whether or not to appeal, saying judges had ignored his defence team. His lawyer Ari Yusuf Amir did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment today. - REUTERS
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Indonesia court jails former trade minister for 4½ years in sugar graft case
Find out what's new on ST website and app. JAKARTA – An Indonesian court on July 18 sentenced a former trade minister to 4½ years in jail for improperly granting sugar import permits that the authorities said caused nearly 600 billion rupiah (S$47 million) in state losses. Thomas Trikasih Lembong served as trade minister in 2015 and 2016 under President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. Once seen as Mr Widodo's close aide, Lembong turned into one of the government's staunchest critics after leaving office. Judges at the corruption court in the capital Jakarta said Lembong, as minister, was guilty of improperly granting import permits for sugar to private companies when Indonesia had a surplus of sugar. Indonesia's sugar output in 2015 was 2.49 million tonnes, while consumption was 2.12 million. In the 2024 presidential election, Lembong was the campaign manager for one of the candidates, Mr Anies Baswedan . The election was won in a landslide by Mr Prabowo Subianto, whom Mr Widodo backed. Lembong, who was arrested days after Mr Prabowo's inauguration in 2024, claimed in court that his prosecution was due to his involvement in the opposition camp, local media reported. Prosecutors denied his arrest was politically motivated. 'The defendant was proven legally and convincingly to be guilty of having committed a corruption act,' Judge Purwanto S. Abdullah said, to jeers from the crowd. Before handing the sentence, the judges argued the import permits did not go through the proper procedures of consulting with other state bodies, and that he had prioritised 'capitalistic' interests over social justice. However, the judges said he did not enrich himself, leading to a shorter sentence than the seven years prosecutors demanded. Prosecutors said Lembong enriched the private companies. Holding up his handcuffed hands, Lembong told reporters after the sentencing he would consider whether or not to appeal, saying judges ignored his defence team. REUTERS
