Ex-Immigration Official's Detention Challenged, KPK Seeks Rejection

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has requested the court to reject the pre-trial motion filed by Silmy Karim, former Deputy Minister of Immigration and Correctional Affairs, who is a suspect in a case of alleged extortion and/or gratification. Natalia Kristianto, Acting Head of Litigation at the KPK's Legal Bureau, stated at the South Jakarta District Court that the pre-trial motion filed by the applicant, as registered under case number 163/Pid.Pra/2026/PN Jakarta Selatan, should be rejected or at least declared inadmissible. Kristianto requested the judge to declare the investigation based on the Investigation Order Number Sprin.Dik/27/DIK.00/01/06/2026 dated June 3, 2026, as valid and lawful, and to declare the suspect designation of the applicant based on KPK Leadership Decree Number 917.1 Year 2026 dated June 3, 2026, as valid and lawful. She also asked the judge to declare the Notification of Suspect Designation Number R/255/DIK.00/23/06/2026 dated June 3 as valid and lawful, and to accept the respondent's answer or response in its entirety. The KPK's Legal Bureau considers Silmy Karim's pre-trial motion to be premature, objectless, and obscurely written. In his motion, Silmy questioned the coercive measures, including detention and asset seizure, carried out by the KPK. One of the main points of contention in the pre-trial lawsuit is the conformity of KPK's administrative letters and all procedures in the investigation process, including the conformity of documents with the actions taken by investigators. Silmy Karim, along with seven other individuals, was named a suspect by the KPK in a case of alleged extortion related to the issuance of stay permits for foreign nationals (WNA) and/or gratification between 2022 and 2026. The other suspects include the Acting Director General of Immigration for the period 2024-2025, Saffar Muhammad Godam; Director of Stay Permits, Jaya Saputra; Sub-directorate Head at the Directorate of Stay Permits, Bagus Bramantyo and Tessar Bayu Setyaji; Head of the Central Jakarta Immigration Office for 2024-2025 and Head of the West Jakarta Immigration Office for 2025-2026, Ronald Arman Abdullah; Head of the Limited Stay Permit (ITAS) Transfer Team, Juniadi Sri Priambudi; and Staff at the Sub-directorate of Stay Permits, Gusti Bernardiansyah. They have all been detained at the KPK's detention center. The suspects are charged under Article 12 letter e and/or Article 12B of the Law on Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption (UU Tipikor) in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP). In handling this case, the KPK has seized assets worth approximately Rp150 billion. The case was uncovered by the KPK through a sting operation conducted on June 2-3, 2026. At that time, the KPK arrested 18 people, one of whom surrendered himself, namely Silmy Karim. The KPK also found and secured several pieces of evidence suspected to be related to or the result of corruption crimes, totaling Rp17.5 billion in various forms of evidence. These include 7 units of cars, 15 units of motorcycles, 11 units of bicycles, balances in bank accounts and crypto asset accounts, as well as several foreign currencies.