Indonesia Names Ex-Minister as Suspect in Sugar Corruption Case
- Thomas Lembong was a strong critic of Joko Widodo’s government
- Ex-trade minister was strongly against downstreaming policy
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Former Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, a strong critic of the government, has been named a suspect in a corruption case involving sugar imports back in 2015, a move that some say may be politically motivated.
The Attorney General’s Office alleges Lembong of breaching rules for granting import permits for 105,000 tons of raw sugar to privately-owned PT AP, at a time when the country was in surplus of production, said Abdul Qohar, the director for special crimes investigation, in a press briefing on Tuesday evening. He also cited 2004 ministerial regulations restricting certain sugar imports to state-owned companies.