Silmy Karim's Team Claims Public Prosecutor Acknowledges No Caught-in-the-Act Operation

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The legal team of former Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim stated that the public prosecutor (JPU) acknowledged that there was no caught-in-the-act operation (OTT) against their client in the case of alleged bribery and extortion concerning foreign nationals' residence permits.

Silmy's lawyer, Soleman B. Ponto, said that the acknowledgment was made by the JPU in response to the objection or exception filed by his team.

"Initially, from the beginning, we heard that Mr. Silmy was considered caught in the act. However, the JPU stated that no caught-in-the-act incident was found," said Soleman after the trial at the Jakarta Central Corruption Court on Tuesday (10/11/2026).

According to Soleman, the JPU's statement that there was no OTT does not mean that the case against Silmy cannot proceed.

Moreover, he emphasized that the acknowledgement clarifies that Silmy has never been involved in an OTT, contrary to the narrative that has developed since the beginning of the case.

"So, it is clear that Mr. Silmy was not caught in the act," he stated.

Soleman believes there has been a shift in the structure of the case as presented by the prosecutor.

He noted that from the start, Silmy was linked to an OTT, but now the issue at hand concerns allegations of extortion.

"If the initial issue built was caught in the act, then it shifted to extortion, what will change after extortion? We'll just have to wait and see," said Soleman.

He mentioned that they would wait for the prosecutor's proof regarding the alleged extortion.

"Regarding extortion, we’ll wait to see how it can be proven whether the extortion actually exists or not," he said.

Charges

In this case, Silmy Karim was charged with receiving 1.2 billion rupiah related to alleged extortion in processing residence permits for foreign nationals.

Additionally, Silmy was also charged with receiving bribes amounting to 33.8 billion rupiah.

According to the charges read by the public prosecutor on October 29, 2026, the documents that were the subject of the alleged extortion by Silmy and others include Visit Stay Permits (ITK), Limited Stay Permits (ITAS), Permanent Stay Permits (ITAP), and the process of changing residence permit status.

Silmy Karim, along with others, was charged with violating Article 12 letter e juncto Article 18 of the Law on the Eradication of Corruption Crimes (UU Tipikor) in conjunction with Article 20 letter c and Article 127 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.