Indonesia | Corruption investigator attacked with chemical

Police said an anti-corruption commission investigator leading a probe into a scandal that threatens to implicate high-profile Indonesian politicians was attacked yesterday with a chemical as he returned from dawn prayers.

Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said Novel Baswedan was attacked by two assailants on a motorcycle after leaving a neighborhood mosque. He said police are still investigating.

Local media described the incident as an acid attack. Images that circulated online showed Baswedan’s eyes and forehead swollen and discolored.

The anti-corruption commission is currently prosecuting a case in which it alleges about 80 conspirators and several companies stole more than a third of the funds provided for a USD440 million electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012.

Some of those allegedly implicated have key roles in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s governing coalition. They include the justice minister, a former interior minister, the current speaker of parliament and two provincial governors. The names were revealed in an indictment presented to a special corruption court last month at the start of a trial of two Interior Ministry officials.

Jokowi said he has ordered police to investigate the “barbaric” attack on Baswedan and capture the assailants.

Baswedan was arrested by the national police in May 2015 when he was accused of fatally shooting a detainee while serving as a police officer in Bengkulu province in 2004.

A public uproar resulted in police dropping the case. Many activists believed police were seeking revenge for Baswedan’s role in investigating corruption among senior officers. AP