When the one who prosecuted others ends up prosecuted, the affair goes beyond a mere sectoral scandal. In Indonesia, a former deputy attorney general, Febrie Adriansyah, is said to be now formally prosecuted in a file concerning the coal supply of public power plants. The alleged loss for the state: around $278 million. No guilt is established at this stage.
Coal is no trivial sector in Indonesia: the country is one of the world's very top producers and exporters, and its electricity depends on it massively. The supply of public power plants means gigantic volumes, long-term contracts and prices which, manipulated even at the margin, produce dizzying gaps.
The power plants' coal was going up in smoke — rather its job, but not this way. Here it wouldn't be the combustion that's the problem, it's the purchase invoice: you pay for coal, you light up suspicions.
The guardian turned suspect
The symbolic heart of the file is the profile of the main person implicated. A senior magistrate of the prosecution service, that is, one of those whose very job is to prosecute corruption. Seeing such a figure tip into the defendants' box produces an institutional vertigo: if the controller was compromised, how many files could he have steered, slowed or buried?
This question goes beyond the individual case. It touches the credibility of the Indonesian anti-corruption apparatus itself, at a time when the country is multiplying big affairs — from nutrition to immigration and now energy. Prosecuting one of its own can be read as a sign of vigour… or as the admission of a systemic problem.
Rigged contracts, a classic mechanism
On the substance, the scheme described is a great classic: steered supply contracts, well-placed intermediaries, prices or volumes adjusted for the benefit of a few. In a sector as capital-intensive as electricity, a gap of a few percent on massive contracts is enough to produce a loss of several hundred million.
It must be repeated: a formal prosecution is not a conviction. It marks the move from an inquiry to a judicial phase, but establishing the facts and responsibilities is still to come. The man himself enjoys the presumption of innocence, and the elements reported here come from an international investigative outlet, presented in the conditional.
$278 million in losses on coal: at that level, it's no longer a supply, it's a seam. The greatest irony, in a country regularly hit by blackouts, is that the least reliable energy will have been that of the accounts.
What remains to be established
The final amount of the loss, the exact charge retained and each person's individual responsibility will have to be settled by the Indonesian courts. The figure of 278 million gives the scale; the trial will say what it really covers.
Key points
- A former deputy attorney general (Febrie Adriansyah) is said to be formally prosecuted.
- File: the coal supply of public power plants.
- Alleged loss for the state: around $278m.
- Underlying stake: the credibility of the anti-corruption apparatus when it targets one of its own.
- No conviction at this stage. Presumption of innocence.
Magouilles & Compagnie verdict
Magouille or calomnie? There is a formal prosecution, a heavy amount and a senior-magistrate profile; there is no judgment. Holding verdict: when power-plant coal is worth $278 million in losses and a prosecutor is on the file, it is the whole control circuit that needs switching back on.
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❓ FAQ
Has this person or institution been convicted?
No. The article reports public information from the cited sources. The suspicions, investigations or proceedings mentioned do not amount to guilt. The presumption of innocence applies.
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The article draws on the public sources listed at the bottom of the page. The satirical remarks are editorial opinion, distinct from the reported facts.
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It is factual satire: the facts are sourced, the tone is satirical. Nothing is invented, but the framing is ironic.
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