Indonesian fisheries minister arrested by the anti-graft agency
26 November, 2020
Anti-graft officials arrested Indonesia's minister for maritime affairs and fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, in early stages Wednesday (Nov 25), a company spokesman said, without giving grounds for the detention.
The minister was among several people held and may be detained and questioned for a day, added Ali Fikri of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Mass media said the minister was first arrested when he arrived with his wife and a great aide in the capital's Soekarno-Hatta airport terminal after a trip to america.
The minister could not immediately be reached for comment. Ministry officials weren't immediately open to comment.
A resource at the anti-graft agency, who declined to become identified until the official affirmation was released, told Reuters the arrests were associated with an investigation in to the export of baby lobsters.
This year, the minister overturned a ban on the export of lobster larvae imposed by his predecessor.
The scrapping of the ban sparked criticism over sustainability concerns and was followed by accusations within an investigative magazine in July about irregularities in the award of licences to export lobster larvae.
Edhy Prabowo denied wrongdoing in comments to media on July.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest market, ranked 85 out of 198 on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index in 2019, improving from 89 a season earlier.
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