Jakarta – In the gray light of early Friday morning, two officials from the District Prosecutor’s Office (Kejaksaan Negeri) of Hulu Sungai Utara, South Kalimantan, were escorted into the Merah Putih building of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in South Jakarta. They were among the parties secured in KPK’s latest hand-catch operation (Operasi Tangkap Tangan, OTT) in Hulu Sungai Utara, a quiet regency that has suddenly become the focus of Indonesia’s anti-graft drive.
The dramatic transfer to the capital on December 19, 2025, follows a night of covert arrests and closed-door questioning at the local police headquarters, underscoring both the reach and the urgency of KPK’s enforcement strategy in the country’s outer islands.
Shortly after sunrise on Friday, two prosecutors from the Hulu Sungai Utara District Prosecutor’s Office arrived separately at KPK’s Merah Putih headquarters in Jakarta. Local media captured the scene as the first official entered the building around 8:15 a.m. local time, followed minutes later by the second, both escorted by KPK officers and immediately taken to an internal examination room.
KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo confirmed that the individuals were among the parties secured during an OTT operation in the South Kalimantan regency. He stated that “two people from the Hulu Sungai Utara District Prosecutor’s Office” were now in Jakarta for intensive questioning following the late‑night operation.
The transfer is part of KPK’s standard procedure: individuals caught in region‑based operations are typically flown to Jakarta for centralized processing, where investigators can access forensic, financial, and legal teams based at the commission’s headquarters.
The South Kalimantan sting first became public on the evening of Thursday, December 18, when KPK confirmed that it had carried out its 11th OTT of the year in Hulu Sungai Utara. According to the commission, six people were secured in the operation, with further investigative steps still underway on the ground.
Local police confirmed that KPK had temporarily used space at the Hulu Sungai Utara Police Resort (Polres HSU) to question those apprehended. The examinations were held behind closed doors, in line with KPK’s standard practice of maintaining operational secrecy in the first 24 hours after an OTT.
Budi Prasetyo has said publicly that the case centers on alleged extortion by law‑enforcement officials, indicating that the early suspicion under Indonesia’s anti‑corruption law involves the misuse of official authority for illicit financial gain. In the Hulu Sungai Utara operation, KPK also seized hundreds of millions of rupiah in cash as preliminary evidence, according to local reporting, underscoring the financial dimensions of the allegations.
The Hulu Sungai Utara operation did not occur in isolation. It is one part of a rapid succession of stings that, in the space of just a few weeks, has targeted officials from Banten and Bekasi in Java to Lampung in Sumatra. KPK confirmed that the South Kalimantan OTT was its 11th hand‑catch operation of 2025, reflecting a sustained focus on enforcement as the year draws to a close.
Earlier this year, the commission conducted stings involving local legislators and public works officials in Ogan Komering Ulu, South Sumatra, where around 2.6 billion rupiah in cash was seized in connection with alleged kickbacks for infrastructure projects. That operation was followed by other high‑profile OTTs involving road construction projects in North Sumatra, hospital projects in Southeast Sulawesi, alleged extortion in the Ministry of Manpower, and a string of cases involving regional leaders from Riau to Ponorogo and Lampung.
The quick tempo of enforcement highlights how KPK is attempting to reassert its presence after a period in which many civil society groups worried that institutional reforms had weakened the commission’s independence. Nationwide, Indonesia’s Corruption Perceptions Index score has stagnated, with the country scoring 34 out of 100 in Transparency International’s 2024 index, signaling persistent governance challenges.
Under Indonesia’s criminal procedure code (KUHAP), KPK has a strict 24‑hour deadline after an arrest to determine the legal status of those detained. Within that period, investigators must decide whether to name them suspects and proceed with detention, or to release them pending further investigation.
This legal clock explains the speed with which the two Hulu Sungai Utara prosecutors were brought to Jakarta. Intensive examinations at the Merah Putih building will determine whether the preliminary evidence of alleged extortion— including the seized cash and any electronic or documentary records — is sufficient to formally upgrade their status. KPK has indicated that details on the case chronology and the potential legal articles applied will be announced in a later press briefing once this initial phase concludes.
One striking element of the South Kalimantan OTT is the profile of the suspects: prosecutors themselves. They are not the first law‑enforcement officials to be caught in KPK’s crosshairs this year. In a separate November operation, KPK apprehended a prosecutor in Banten along with two lawyers and several private parties in an alleged bribery case linked to legal handling.
Such cases intensify public concern that corruption within law‑enforcement institutions — including prosecutors, judges, and police — may be undermining the very systems meant to uphold justice. Research by Indonesian anti‑corruption watchdogs has repeatedly highlighted vulnerabilities in the country’s legal sector, pointing to discretionary power, opaque case handling, and weak oversight as drivers of graft risk.
The South Kalimantan OTT also reflects KPK’s continuing effort to move beyond Jakarta and other major cities. While Indonesia is a vast archipelago, much of its legal infrastructure and media scrutiny remain capital‑centric. KPK’s move to target alleged extortion networks in a relatively remote regency like Hulu Sungai Utara signals that the commission is willing to expend resources far from the political and economic core to send a deterrent message to regional officials.
Corruption in Indonesia has long been deeply intertwined with decentralization. Since the early 2000s, greater fiscal and political autonomy at the local level has created new opportunities for public participation but also expanded room for rent‑seeking around permits, procurement, and public services. Academic studies have shown that patterns of local corruption often track closely with control over natural resources, land licensing, and infrastructure budgets, all of which are significant in provinces like South Kalimantan that sit atop important commodity and agricultural economies.
As the two Hulu Sungai Utara prosecutors sit through hours of questioning in Jakarta, public attention is fixed on KPK’s next steps. Civil society organizations have repeatedly argued that OTTs, while high‑impact, must be followed by thorough prosecutions, asset recovery, and institutional reforms to prevent repeat offenses. Without those deeper changes, they warn, the spectacle of arrests will not translate into a sustained reduction in corruption risk.
For now, KPK’s investigators are racing the legal deadline. Within a single day, they must decide whether to elevate the two prosecutors and others secured in the South Kalimantan sting to suspect status, continue their detention, or release them while gathering more evidence. Whatever decision emerges will help determine whether this latest operation becomes another headline in a long series of stings — or a turning point in the battle against graft within Indonesia’s own justice system.
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