Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced lawyers Ariyanto Bakrie and Marcella Santoso to 16 and 14 years in prison respectively on Tuesday (3/3/2026) for their role in bribing judges and laundering money related to the high-profile Crude Palm Oil (CPO) export facility corruption case.
Presiding Judge Effendi ruled that both lawyers, who represented Wilmar Group, was proven to have channeled $4 million (approximately Rp 60 billion) in bribes to influence court decisions and laundered an additional $2 million.
He said that the defendants are found legally and convincingly guilty of collective bribery and money laundering, as reported by antaranews.com.
Along with the prison term, she was fined Rp 600 million and ordered to pay Rp 16.25 billion in restitution, or face an additional six years of incarceration. The court noted that her actions severely damaged public trust in the judiciary and betrayed the spirit of Indonesia’s anti-corruption reforms.
In a separate ruling during the same marathon session, the court acquitted three other defendants, consisting former JakTV executive Tian Bahtiar, social media buzzer Adhiya Muzakki, and lawyer Junaedi Saibih, who were accused of obstructing justice across three major corruption cases (tin, CPO, and sugar).
The judge ruled that Tian was merely performing his journalistic duties, while Adhiya’s social media activities lacked criminal intent as they were directed by counsel. Regarding Junaedi, the court viewed his organization of seminars and discussions as part of legitimate non-litigation defense. All three had their rights and dignity restored following the acquittal, despite initial prosecution demands for sentences ranging from 8 to 10 years.
(mg/inp/pr/rs)
