Indonesia Arrests Officials in Crackdown on Corruption Cases

Indonesian Deputy Minister Arrested Over Allegations of Corruption

Silmy Karim, the deputy minister for immigration affairs, has been taken into custody by authorities in Indonesia. According to Budi Prasetyo, spokesperson for the anticorruption agency KPK, Karim was questioned at the agency’s office on Wednesday night and remained there for approximately 10 hours before being arrested.

The arrest is part of a broader crackdown on corruption in Indonesia, which has led to the detention of several high-ranking officials. The alleged irregularities in question occurred between 2023 and 2024, during Karim’s tenure as director general for immigration affairs under President Joko Widodo.

Seven other individuals have been identified as suspects in the case, although further details are expected to be released later on Thursday. This development comes a day after the country’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO) arrested Dadan Hindayana, the former head of an agency overseeing President Prabowo Subianto’s free-meals programme.

According to Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, director of investigation at the AGO, the programme is implemented through foundations operating in schools. Authorities have alleged that these foundations were used to facilitate criminal activities.

State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi stated on Thursday that the government has been “deeply concerned” over the past two days by the repeated events. He added that the government respects the legal proceedings by the KPK and the AGO.

Source: Al Jazeera