Indonesian Telcom IM2’s Former Managing Director Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Indar Atmanto, former managing director of IM2
credit: Mastel.co.id

The former managing director of PT Indosat Mega Media (IM2) Indar Atmanto was sentenced to four years in prison and fined IDR 200 million ($20,000) by the court. He was convicted of unlicensed use of the 2.1Ghz 3G frequency spectrum that belongs to Indosat, despite the fact that Indar had signed a usage agreement with Indosat’s vice managing director, Kaizad B Heerje, in 2006.

The prosecutor argued that IM2’s usage of the spectrum was illegal because IM2 had failed to pay the up-front fee for its use, as well as the concession fee for the radio frequency band. The court agreed, and in addition to convicting Atmanto it also fined IM2 a staggering amount: IDR 1,358 trillion ($135 million), far above IM2’s total assets of IDR 700 billion ($70 million).

No One is Happy

Luhut Pangaribuan, the lawyer defending IM2 argued that according to the letter issued by the Ministry of Communication and Information, IM2 was not obliged to pay the up-front fee, and this was confirmed by current minister Tifatul Sembiring’s response to the case. In fact, the minister even argued further that this ruling will hamper the investment climate in Indonesia. He said many investors will fear the apparent inconsistent law enforcement in Indonesia, and that the unlawful ruling could set a bad precedent.

Luhut also mentioned that there was a judge who was asleep during the trial. He feared that the judge did not listen to the facts presented in the court and had therefore missed some critical information during the court proceedings.

The current CEO of IM2, Alexander Rusli, has vowed to fight the ruling. He said:

We cannot accept the ruling knowing that many authorities and qualified parties have helped to explain in many forums that the conviction is wrong.

(via Detik #1, #2, #3, #4)

(Editing by Charlie Custer)