Attorney General's Office urges court to reject Lodewyk's challenge, says asset seizure was lawful

Indonesia's Attorney General's Office has asked a South Jakarta judge to reject former National Nutrition Agency deputy head Lodewyk Pusung's pretrial challenge, arguing that the seizure of his assets followed criminal procedure law.

The office's legal bureau made the argument during a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday. It cited Article 118 of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which allows investigators to seize property after seeking permission from the head of the district court where the property is located.

The bureau said investigators may act without prior permission in urgent circumstances, but only for movable property. They must then seek the district court's approval within five working days, under Article 120.

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Urgent circumstances as referred to in Article 120 paragraph 1 are not abstract, but have been given parameters by the lawmakers in Article 120 paragraph 2.

The code lists urgent circumstances including difficult geographic access, a suspect being caught in the act, a clear risk that evidence could be damaged or removed, easily movable property, serious threats to national security or a person's life, and situations determined by investigators.

The legal bureau said the need for immediate action was especially strong because the items involved could include electronic devices, storage media, mobile phones, computers and other equipment that stores or provides access to electronic evidence. Delaying action, it argued, could allow the items to be moved or hidden, or allow data to be destroyed or changed.

On that basis, the Attorney General's Office asked Judge Sulistyo Muhammad Dwi Putro to dismiss Lodewyk's application as legally unfounded.

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If securing these items were delayed too long, there would be a risk that they could be moved from their original location, hidden, destroyed, or used to remove or alter the electronic data stored on them.