Indonesia anti-graft body arrests senior opposition official

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian investigators on Thursday arrested a senior politician from the only opposition party in parliament in a long-running bribery case connected to a parliamentary appointment, the country's anti-graft agency chief said.

Hasto Kristiyanto, secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, known as PDIP, 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 involved Hasto allegedly instructing the concerned politician, Harun Masiku, to escape agency investigators and to submerge his phone in water, Setyo said. Masiku remains a fugitive.

Hasto and the party, 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. The anti-corruption agency chief on Thursday 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.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Rachna Uppal)