September 10, 2025 | 10:17 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The bill on asset forfeiture has been listed in the priority national legislative program (locally known as prolegnas) for 2025. A civil society coalition has raised several concerns about the Asset Forfeiture Bill to ensure it will not be drafted in favor of the ruling elites.
Coalition member and researcher of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), Wana Alamsyah, said lawmakers must consider meaningful participation while discussing the Asset Forfeiture Bill. Any talks about the asset seizure must involve all elements of civil society, adding that DPR must not be hasty in doing so.
"The DPR must also be transparent and provide as much information as possible regarding the progress of discussions on the Asset Forfeiture Bill," he said in an official statement on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, referring to the House of Representatives.
Since lawmakers agree to make the Asset Forfeiture Bill a priority this year, Wana warned that there are only four months left until 2026. If failed to meet the deadline, it's possible for the draft law to remain neglected going forward.
According to Wana, there's no need to completely overhaul the academic manuscript and the draft of the Bill that was prepared in the previous administration. This is suggested to avoid a prolonged process.
The coalition also suggests that the discussions on the Asset Forfeiture Bill should be conducted simultaneously with the draft law of the Criminal Procedure Code to avoid overlap and legal uncertainty. There are several articles between the Asset Forfeiture Bill and the Criminal Procedure Code that are related, including the authority of law enforcement and the status of assets resulting from criminal acts.
But the Criminal Procedure Code Bill is unlikely to be ratified this year. "At the very least, the discussion must continue while emphasizing meaningful participation," he said.
Wana reckoned the lawmakers must discuss a number of issues, including the unexplained wealth order as the basis of illicit enrichment. If a public official has wealth that exceeds their legitimate income and is unable to explain the source of such wealth, it can be suspected that it is derived from a criminal act, such as bribery or gratification.
Another issue is coercive measures, which are closely related to the Asset Forfeiture Bill, as confiscating assets suspectedly linked to criminal acts does not rely on the criminalization of the perpetrators. Both asset seizure and coercive measures derogate the rights of an individual.
Coercive measures within asset confiscation must heed the precautionary principle, Wana said, to avoid human rights violations. Supervision mechanisms must also be considered. "For example, by using a system of commissioner judges or preliminary examining judges to ensure the protection of citizens' rights," he said.
Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas previously confirmed that the government is ready to discuss the Asset Forfeiture Bill with lawmakers. He then added, "Later on, we can share the academic manuscripts and the materials of the draft law."
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the DPR's Legislation Body, Bob Hasan, explained that there are 9 proposed Bills to be included in the medium-term prolegnas of 2025-2029. Some of them include the Police Bill, Personal Data Protection Bill, Online Transportation Bill, and the Indonesian Freelancer Bill.
Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to the writing of this article.
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