JAKARTA — Indonesian investigators arrested a senior politician from the only opposition party in Parliament today in a long-running bribery case connected to a Parliamentary appointment, the country's anti-graft agency chief said.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDIP) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto was arrested on charges of bribing an election official to install his preferred politician in a Parliamentary seat in 2019, and obstruction of justice, Setyo Budiyanto said at a press conference.
The obstruction of justice accusation sees Hasto allegedly instructing the concerned politician, Harun Masiku, to escape agency investigators and to submerge his phone in water. Masiku remains a fugitive.
Hasto and the PDIP, which is headed by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, have repeatedly denied wrongdoing, alleging the investigation was politically motivated.
Hasto's lawyer Ronny Talapessy told Reuters after the arrest that his client was being "targeted," without elaborating. Today, the anti-corruption agency chief denied that the case was politically motivated.
The agency first revealed the investigation in 2020, and three people have already been sentenced for their roles, while a fourth has absconded.
Hasto was named as a suspect in December 2024.
PDIP is the country's largest political party, but the only one that sits outside of President Prabowo Subianto's ruling coalition in parliament.
At the time of the alleged offences, the PDIP was part of then-president Joko Widodo's government.
— Reuters
