JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s anti-graft agency arrested the outspoken governor of its restive easternmost Papua province on Tuesday, officials said, after accusing him of accepting bribes in return for infrastructure contracts.
Lukas Enembe was last week accused by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) of taking 1 billion rupiah ($64,164) from a construction firm for concessions that included a road and facilities at a preschool. He has denied the allegations.
Enembe is a prominent local politician who has locked horns with the central government over its policies in the special autonomous region.
He was flown to the capital Jakarta for interrogation, KPK spokesperson Ali Fikri told Metro TV. Enembe’s lawyer confirmed the arrest and told Reuters his client would cooperate with authorities.
Tensions have simmered for decades in resource-rich Papua, where a low-level struggle for independence has been waged since its 1969 annexation by Indonesia following Dutch colonial rule.
Footage from local news showed a scuffle between security and several people gathered outside the police station where Enembe was initially held.
Some activists believe he is being targeted by the state for opposing the creation of new provinces in the Papua region, which critics fear could affect its indigenous population and threaten its special autonomy powers.
Chief security minister Mahfud MD has said the probe into Enembe was not politically motivated.
Asked about Enembe’s arrest, President Joko Widodo told local media the anti-graft agency “must already have their evidence”, adding “everybody is the same in the eyes of the law.”
In September, security minister Mahfud said Enembe was allegedly involved in mismanaging funds and laundering “hundreds of billions” of rupiah, citing analyses from the state’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
Enembe has dismissed the allegation.
($1 = 15,585.0000 rupiah)
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Martin Petty)
