Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Handover of State Financial Restitution of Rp13,255,244,538,149 in the Corruption Case of Export Facility for Crude Palm Oil and Its Derivatives, at the Main Building of the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Indonesia, South Jakarta, Special Region of Jakarta, Monday, October 20, 2025

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good afternoon,

May prosperity be upon us all,

Shalom,

Salve,

Om swastiastu,

Namo buddhaya,

Greetings of virtue.

Distinguished Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia, Professor S. T. Burhanuddin, and all personnel of the Attorney General’s Office.

Minister of Defense, General (Ret.) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) General Agus Subianto, and Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. Have you become a professor yet? Not yet? Soon, I suppose.

Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, have you got your doctorate? Not yet? I have not either. Head of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) Muhammad Yusuf Ateh, have you got your doctorate?

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and members of the press.

My fellow citizens, let us extend our gratitude and praise to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, the Almighty, for His blessings, His mercy, and the good health, so that today we can be present here at the Attorney General’s Office for an event, though symbolic, but an important one, the handover of state financial restitution amounting to thirteen trillion two hundred fifty-five billion two hundred forty-four million five hundred thirty-eight thousand one hundred forty-nine rupiah.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of you, especially the Attorney General’s Office, for working tirelessly and firmly in the fight against corruption, manipulation, and abuse of authority.

Thirteen trillion rupiah. This amount could be used to renovate more than eight thousand schools. Or take this example, for one fishermen’s village we allocate twenty-two billion rupiah. A fishermen’s village with facilities that, in eighty years of our Republic, had never truly been cared for by the state. Now we are rebuilding them, providing modern facilities. Our plan, by the end of 2026, is to build between one thousand and eleven hundred fishermen’s villages. Each village costs twenty-two billion. Thus, thirteen trillion means we could build six hundred fishermen’s villages.

One village has about two thousand households. If we include the wives and children, that is roughly five thousand people per village. Multiply that by a thousand, five million people. If we take six hundred villages, five million Indonesians could live decently. That is the meaning of this money that was almost lost, and this is only from one sector, palm oil. One form of abuse is the failure to fulfill obligations to meet domestic needs. This is the nation’s recourses, the wealth of Indonesia, but it was taken, extracted, and sent abroad, while our people struggled to find cooking oil for weeks. To me, this is cruel, inhumane. Whether it is pure greed or could be considered economic subversion, I leave that to interpretation, but it is something very grave.

Therefore, I extend my highest appreciation to the Attorney General’s Office. I thank you. However, I remind everyone that our work is far from done. There are a lot of illegal mining, and our losses may reach tens or even hundreds of trillions of rupiah. Recently, as we have seen, we managed to stop the smuggling of tin and its derivatives from Bangka Belitung, through the massive efforts of the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force, assisted by the TNI, the Attorney General’s Office, the Police, and Customs. The losses from that activity were also huge, estimated at around forty trillion rupiah a year, and it has been going on for nearly twenty years. Imagine that, twenty trillion, thirty trillion, even forty trillion a year. International institutions have estimated the losses at about three billion dollars annually. Over twenty years, that is roughly eight hundred trillion rupiah. What could we have built with that? What kind of nation could we have created? Illegal mining, illegal commodities, whatever the form, the tricks are always the same, namely under-invoicing or over-invoicing, in short, mis-invoicing, deception, and deceiving the Indonesian people who have given so much land, facilities, and permits.

That is the most important thing, Ladies and Gentlemen. Congratulations on this achievement. Do not back down, do not slow down, do not give up. Do your best for this nation, for our people. Wealth gained by harming others is tainted wealth, illicit, and in the end, it will bring ruin to whoever holds it and to their family. I have seen too many officials who were weak in faith, weak in character, who committed wrongdoings and eventually brought suffering to their families.

To the businesspeople, I remind you as well. The world is getting smaller, the earth is shrinking because of technology and civilization. Thus, if there are those who think they can continue to deceive a nation as big as Indonesia, we will prove otherwise. We still exist, we are still strong, and we are determined to uphold our sovereignty for the sake of our people.

We are not seeking conflict. I remind the Attorney General’s Office and the Police, do not criminalize people without cause, for any motive. Because I am aware that even within the Attorney General’s Office, there are still reports of prosecutors engaging in questionable practices. We must never allow false cases or fabricated charges, particularly against the poor. The poor already struggle enough, do not make their lives harder by looking for things that do not need to be found.

I remember not long ago, there was an elementary school student arrested for stealing a chicken. I remember it well. It made no sense. Judges, prosecutors, why pursue such a thing? You must remember that incident. And there was also a mother arrested for stealing a tree. Why? Law enforcement must have a heart. We must uphold equality before the law That is cruel, unjust, evil. The poor and the weak must be defended and helped. If necessary, the judge, the prosecutor, or the police officer should pay for the chicken themselves, help the family. I remember that boy, I called him to Hambalang and gave him a scholarship.

I believe such things no longer happen. I hope so. But remember, our people are smart, and they have technology. If something happens, they have their gadgets, and the reports go straight to the President. “Mr. Prabowo, this happened.” Oh dear. I must respond, because they are my people, and I must defend them. You must help me uphold justice and protect the weak. The elite can take care of themselves. But if the elite break the law, then we test strength, are they stronger, or is the state? Let them not think Indonesia is weak.

That concludes my remarks. Congratulations, and let us continue working together to save Indonesia’s wealth. Indonesia is a very rich nation, very rich. If we can manage it well, if we have the courage to do so, Indonesia will rise quickly. I believe that, and I am confident in it.

Today marks one year since I was inaugurated as President, and I see this as a good sign. On this day, I witness the Government of Indonesia, namely the Attorney General’s Office, showing and proving to the people its hard work, courage, and determination to recover the nation’s wealth. Remember, with this money we could renovate eight thousand schools, we could help five million fishermen live decently, five million people. That is what this recovered wealth means. And that is why I am very eager to continue to pursue and recover what has been stolen from this nation.

Thank you. Let us keep working together, walking this noble path.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

May prosperity be upon us all,

Shalom,

Salve,

Om santi santi santi om,

Namo buddhaya.

Thank you.

(RI/MMB)