Indonesian minister arrested in telecommunications graft case

Jakarta: Indonesian authorities arrested a senior minister on Wednesday for his alleged role in a corruption case stemming from a telecommunications project that has cost the country more than half a billion dollars in losses.

Clad in the bright pink vest usually worn by corruption suspects, Communication and Information Technology Minister Johnny Gerard Plate was questioned for hours at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) before being bundled into a car and taken to a detention centre in Jakarta.

“Based on today’s investigation, we concluded there has been sufficient evidence that he (Plate) was involved in a base transceiver stations corruption case,” said the AGO’s investigation director for extraordinary crimes, Kuntadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.