Jakarta, Legal Literacy – Panel of Judges of the Court Criminal Act of Corruption (Criminal Court) at the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced the former Minister of Trade for the 2015-2016 period, Thomas Trikasih Lembong, to 4 years and 6 months in prison. The man, familiarly called Tom Lembong, was declared proven legally and convincingly guilty in the alleged case corruption related to sugar importation facilities.
The verdict was read directly by the Head of the Panel of Judges, Dennie Arsan Fatrika, in a trial held on Friday (18/7/2025). In addition to the prison sentence, the judge also required Tom Lembong to pay a fine of Rp 750 million. "If the fine is not paid, it will be replaced with a 6-month imprisonment," said Judge Dennie when reading out the verdict.
In its considerations, the panel of judges assessed that Tom Lembong's actions while serving as minister fulfilled the elements of a criminal act of corruption. The act in question is the issuance of 21 Raw Sugar Import Approvals (PI) granted to a number of private companies. This policy, according to the judge, has violated statutory regulations and caused state financial losses estimated at Rp 578 billion.
Not Enriching Himself
Although proven guilty of acts that enriched other parties, namely private sugar entrepreneurs, Tom Lembong was not sentenced to pay compensation for state losses. The judge argued that based on the facts revealed in the trial, no evidence was found that the defendant personally received funds from the proceeds of the corruption.
The verdict handed down by the panel of judges was lighter than the demands submitted by the public prosecutor. Previously, at the indictment hearing on July 4, 2025, the prosecutor requested that Tom Lembong be sentenced to 7 years in prison with the same amount of fine. The prosecutor charged Tom Lembong with Article 2 or Article 3 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption.
Meanwhile, Tom Lembong and his legal team consistently rejected all charges and demands from the prosecutor. In their defense, they argued that the case against him was thick with political nuances, especially after his position was in opposition to the government in the 2024 Presidential Election, where he served as Co-Captain of the Anies Baswedan National Team.
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