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| source: https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/hakim-tak-terima-eksepsi-tom-lembong-sidang-berlanjut-ke-pembuktian-24fd2cqssdI |
It just doesn’t feel right to me that someone can be jailed for corruption when there’s no real proof they ever took any money. But that’s what happened to Tom Lembong. Back in 2015, he was simply doing his job as Indonesia's Trade Minister, following Ex-President Joko Widodo’s order to import sugar so prices wouldn’t get out of control. Then almost ten years later, suddenly, he gets a 4.5 year prison sentence. Sure, president Prabowo later used his power to give him an abolition and set him free, but the damage was already done. His name was ruined, and the whole thing just leaves a bad taste. Too many things don’t make sense and honestly, the timing makes it hard not to think there’s politics behind it.
No Evidence of Personal Gain
The strangest part is that the court never proved Lembong gained a cent from the sugar imports. No bribes. No shady wire transfers. No hidden accounts. Zero. And in corruption law, that should be the end of the story. Corruption is about abusing power for personal enrichment. If there’s no enrichment, then what crime is there to punish?
Even the so-called “state losses” are all over the place. One audit claimed Rp578 billion, another claimed Rp194 billion. That’s not just sloppy, that’s a massive contradiction. If the foundation of a case is that shaky, how can anyone take the verdict seriously?
Just Following Policy
Let’s not forget: this wasn’t some backroom deal Lembong cooked up. The sugar imports were mandated by Presidential Regulation No. 71/2015, signed by Jokowi himself. The Ministry of Trade was explicitly authorized to stabilize prices through imports. Bulog was the one importing, and the Ministry of Agriculture was involved as well. Everything went through the proper channels.
Also the court tried to make an issue out of the sugar being exempt from VAT, but come on, that’s completely normal! Under Finance Ministry Regulation No. 116/2007, Bulog, as a state-owned company doing a public service, doesn’t even have to pay VAT on those imports. That’s not corruption because that’s literally how the system is supposed to work. So if the president ordered it, the law allowed it, every agency signed off, and the minister himself didn’t get a single personal benefit then seriously.. what crime are we even talking about here?
The Suspicious Timing
What really stinks is when this case resurfaced. The imports happened in 2015–2016, and for years, there was no investigation, no audit red flags, no whisper of wrongdoing. But suddenly in 2025, right after Lembong openly supported Anies Baswedan in the 2024 election, the case exploded. The process moved at lightning speed, and he was swiftly convicted. Sorry, but that doesn’t smell like coincidence.
And here’s the kicker: he’s not the only Trade Minister who approved sugar imports. His successor, Enggartiasto Lukita, used the same mechanism between 2016 and 2019. Some of those imports even had procedural problems. Yet nobody touched him. Why is only Tom Lembong being punished? That’s not justice, it’s selective law enforcement. And when the law only hits one side, it stops being law and starts being politics.
Even Legal Experts Call It Absurd
It’s not just me saying this. Even outspoken lawyer Hotman Paris, who never sugarcoats things, called the whole case absurd. He pointed out that the imports had already been cleared by government legal teams at the time. If that’s true, then by law, there should have been no case at all. So what I'm trying to say is that If this can happen to someone like To Lembong, who has a reputation for being clean, then it can happen to anyone.
A Dangerous Precedent
This case sends a chilling message to every policymaker in Indonesia. Imagine doing your job, following the president’s orders, acting within the legal framework, taking no personal benefit, only to be thrown in jail years later because the political winds shifted. That’s not justice, that’s intimidation.
Who’s going to take bold decisions for the country under those conditions? Who will fight inflation, secure food supply, or handle crises if they know they could become a political scapegoat in the future? Cases like this don’t encourage integrity, they breed fear. And fear is the last thing we need in public service.
Free But Not Done
I’m relieved that Tom is free now, but freedom alone doesn’t erase the damage. His reputation has already been crushed. It’s no surprise he’s pushing back, filing complaints against the judges and auditors involved because he should. If someone with a spotless record can be taken down like this, then nobody is safe. I don’t believe this case was ever really about sugar. Sugar was just the excuse. The real issue was politics, and its taste is far more bitter.
