Jakarta: The former treasurer of Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s party, on the run over
graft allegations, arrived back in the country on Saturday after
being extradited from Colombia, police said.
Mohammed Nazaruddin, 32, fled Indonesia in May when
anti-corruption investigators linked him to a bribery scandal
involving the construction of the athletes` village for the
Southeast Asian Games, scheduled in November.
He was arrested by Colombian police in Cartagena on Monday
after Interpol issued a "red notice" for him, officials said.
"He is now being detained in a police detention centre,"
said Indonesia`s national police spokesman I Ketut Untung Yoga
Ana, adding that he was returned on a specially-chartered
flight and anti-graft investigators were questioning him.
The scandal has the potential to entangle other senior
members of the President`s party.
In a recent nationally-televised interview from an unknown
location, Nazaruddin made graft allegations against several
high-ranking officials from the Democratic Party including its
chairman Anas Urbaningrum and Andi Mallarangeng, the Sports
Minister.
Yudhoyono condemned the spreading of allegations against
his party`s officials yesterday, saying that "Nazarrudin`s
return to the country will make everything clearer."
The normally taciturn leader has won two elections on
promises to tackle corruption in one of the most corrupt
countries in Asia, but his critics say he has failed to make
any genuine difference to the culture of graft and impunity.
PTI
