Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara was arrested yesterday for allegedly taking US$1.2 million in bribes linked to food aid for those hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Juliari was named as a suspect, along with four others, after Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) agents on Saturday seized suitcases, backpacks and envelopes stuffed with cash equivalent to US$1.2 million in a sting operation in Jakarta.
He turned himself in yesterday at the agency’s headquarters in Jakarta, becoming the second minister in Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s government to be arrested over alleged graft in recent weeks.
Photo: AFP
“That’s the people’s money ... it’s aid urgently needed to help during COVID-19 and for the national economic recovery,” Widodo said after Juliari’s arrest.
Widodo said he had continually warned ministers and regional leaders to avoid corruption and close loopholes for graft.
“That social assistance is really needed by the people and I will not protect those involved in corruption,” he said in a video statement. “And we all believe that the KPK works in a transparent, open, professional manner and the government will continue to consistently support efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption.”
Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s biggest — has been hit hard by the pandemic, and the government has rolled out aid programs such as food packages to help those in need.
Juliari has been accused of involvement in a bribery scheme linked to one such aid project.
He allegedly received more than US$1 million from two contractors that were appointed to supply basic food packages worth 5.9 trillion rupiah (US$420 million) for people affected by the pandemic, KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri said.
For each package, Batubara would receive 10,000 rupiah, KPK officials alleged.
Two of the suspects are private citizens, Firli said.
If found guilty, Juliari could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 1 billion rupiah.
Some suspects were arrested in a sting operation on Saturday in the capital, Jakarta, where the agency 14.5 billion rupiah in cash, Firli told a news briefing.
The Ministry of Social Affairs would give the KPK full access to information needed for its investigation, senior ministry official Hartono Laras said.
Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo and his wife, Indonesian lawmaker Iis Rosita Dewi, were arrested late last month amid an investigation into lobster larvae export permits.
Several other senior marine affairs ministry officials were among 15 people arrested around Jakarta as part of KPK’s investigation into the permits.
Widodo was elected in 2014 on a pledge to fight graft and several prominent politicians have been jailed for corruption, but concern has nevertheless grown that the anti-graft agency’s clout has weakened during his tenure.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS