Criminalization of Business Decisions: Lessons from the Ira Puspadewi Case and the Dilemma of SOE Directors

By Miftakhul Shodikin

02 Dec 2025 21:05 WIB 02 December 2025 21:05 WIB 4 minutes reading time: 4 minutes 4 read

Updated: 17 Jan 2026 19:15 WIB 17 January 2026 19:15 WIB

This opinion highlights the blurring lines between business errors and crimes, as well as the danger of criminalizing directors without evidence of malicious intent. This opinion highlights the blurring

Criminalization of Business Decisions: Lessons from the Ira Puspadewi Case and the Dilemma of SOE Directors

Opinion Note

This opinion article was written by a contributor/columnist. The views expressed are entirely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors.

CONTRIBUTOR PROGRAM

You can become a columnist at Legal Literacy.

Submit your legal opinion/analysis writing. If it is published, you have the opportunity to obtain a payout/honorarium in accordance with the provisions.

Submit Article Read Guidelines

Table of Contents

Introduction: Verdict Amidst Uncertainty
The Danger of Managerial Criminalization
Business Judgment Rule vs. Law Enforcement
Mirror of the New SOE Law (Law 16/2025)

Baca tanpa iklan.

Gabung Membership

Introduction: Verdict Amidst Uncertainty

Legal Literacy - The case involving Ira Puspadewi, former President Director of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero), serves as a stark warning to the entire SOE governance ecosystem. The public understands that the allegations related to the acquisition of PT Jembatan Nusantara emerged with claims of fantastic state losses, reaching around Rp1.25 trillion.

The facts of the trial place this case at a crucial intersection between criminal law, state financial oversight, and the dynamics of business fraught with risk. However, what is most concerning is the implicit message of this verdict: state-owned companies are now "trading" in a situation of acute legal uncertainty.

The Danger of Managerial Criminalization

Taking risky decisions is an organic function of a board of directors. If every business decision that results in a loss is directly translated as a criminal act of corruption, then the room for maneuver of the board of directors will be strangled by fear. This managerial criminalization transforms the logic of SOE management into reactive and conservative—officials will choose "administrative safety" rather than economic innovation. In fact, the country needs SOEs that dare to take strategic steps.

The greatest irony in Ira's case is the judge's consideration itself. The judge acknowledged that the defendant was not proven to have enjoyed personal gain, but was considered "negligent". However, the verdict of 4.5 years in prison was still handed down. As if, inaccuracies in asset valuation automatically mutate into malicious intent (mens rea).

If the boundary between bad business judgment and criminal act continues to be blurred, criminal law has shifted from ultimum remedium (last resort) into an instant economic correction tool. SOE directors, whoever they are, are now just waiting their turn to become victims of a system that sees "loss" as evidence of crime, not business risk.