Indonesian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Arrested

The Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced on May 17 that it had temporarily detained Information and Communications Technology Minister Johnny Gerard Plate to investigate his role in a corruption case. He was arrested after being questioned at the AGO headquarters in Jakarta.

Mr. Johnny Gerard Plate is escorted at the headquarters of the Indonesian Attorney General's Office in Jakarta on May 17.

According to Bloomberg, Mr. Plate is suspected of corruption in a project to purchase equipment to build thousands of 4G stations carried out by an agency under his Ministry of Information and Communications.

Kuntadi, an AGO official, said Plate was arrested because he was a budget manager and a minister. Like many Indonesians, Kuntadi's name is only one word.

The corruption case resulted in losses of 8 trillion rupiah ($544 million), according to the AGO. Another official told Reuters that the minister violated an anti-corruption law that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Indonesia's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said it would comply with the legal process and its role in serving the public would not be affected by the case.

President Joko Widodo's office called Plate's arrest a surprise. "The president has repeatedly reminded officials to work carefully," said Jaleswari Pramodhawardhani, an official at the president's office.

Mr. Plate is the fifth minister in President Widodo's administration to be charged with corruption. In 2021, the ministers of social work and fisheries were sentenced to prison in separate corruption cases.

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