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Indonesian authorities have arrested three judges who acquitted three palm oil companies of corruption charges related to obtaining export permits, following the earlier arrest of a district court chief judge on bribery charges in the same case.
The court had acquitted Wilmar Group, Musim Mas Group, and North Sumatra-based Permata Hijau Group last month of charges relating to the misuse of export permit procedures in 2022.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Harli Siregar told Reuters in a text message on Monday that the three judges who issued the verdict were arrested on Sunday evening.
Siregar added that on Saturday, Muhammad Arif Nuryanta, the chief judge of the South Jakarta District Court, was arrested on charges of receiving a bribe of 60 billion rupiah (equivalent to $3.57 million) via two lawyers representing the companies. An additional $1.07 million was subsequently paid to the other three judges.
"The bribe was paid so that the judges would rule that what happened was not a crime," Siregar said, also noting the arrest of a court clerk and two lawyers in connection with the same case.
Reuters was unable to reach the three judges or their lawyers for comment.
Siregar added that the Attorney General's Office has filed an appeal against the court's March ruling that acquitted the companies.
Wilmar Group, Musim Mas and Permata Hijau did not respond to requests for comment.
Nuryanta was serving as deputy chief judge at the time the verdict was issued and was not directly involved in the case's hearings.
Indonesia accounts for around 60% of global palm oil supply and imposed severe export restrictions in 2022, including a three-week shipment ban, in a bid to curb a sharp rise in domestic cooking oil prices.
When the charges were initially filed, prosecutors had sought fines and payments totalling 11 trillion rupiah.
($1 = 16,765 rupiah)