Jakarta. Indonesian prosecutors have filed an appeal to the Supreme Court after a Pontianak High Court acquitted Chinese national Yu Hao, who was previously accused of illegally mining 774 kilograms of gold worth Rp 1 trillion ($60.98 million).

The appeal was lodged after prosecutors argued that the judges misapplied legal considerations raised by the defendant during the appeal process.

Harli Siregar, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, confirmed the decision in a statement on Friday evening in South Jakarta. He explained that there were key discrepancies in the judge's rationale, particularly concerning the evidence presented. One of the issues was that the judge dismissed photographic evidence submitted by the prosecution, which showed activities related to the illegal mining operation.

The court also questioned whether the evidence presented by prosecutors sufficiently demonstrated mining activities. This has led the prosecution to formally appeal the decision, with the belief that the ruling did not adhere to proper legal procedures.

“On Jan. 13, the judges at the Pontianak High Court indeed acquitted the Chinese defendant. However, our prosecutors, acting swiftly, signed the appeal statement on Jan. 17, as required by the criminal procedure code under Article 224 of the Criminal Procedure Law,” Harli said on Friday.

 “We are appealing because we believe the High Court should not have acquitted the defendant, and we believe the judges failed to apply the law properly,” he added.

Yu Hao had previously been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and fined Rp 30 billion (approximately $1.9 million) by the Ketapang District Court for illegal mining activities. The Pontianak High Court had accepted Yu’s appeal, reducing the sentence to an acquittal.

In addition to the acquittal, the High Court ordered that Yu Hao be released from detention and that his rights, dignity, and reputation be restored.

The prosecution alleges that Yu Hao’s illegal mining activities caused a loss of Rp 1.02 trillion to the country, resulting from the disappearance of 774.27 kilograms of gold and 937.7 kilograms of silver from the country’s mineral reserves.