TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Papua Police Chief Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri said that Governor of Papua Lukas Enembe is being transported to Jakarta by air after police officially arrested him on the same day.

"Lukas has been taken to the airport and is being flown to Jakarta today," said general Mathius to Tempo on Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

Mathius also confirmed that the arrest of the governor sparked resistance from his loyal supporters who staged a protest in front of the Papua police's Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) headquarters. The masses then started to throw the police headquarters with various objects as the governor was being flown to Jakarta.

Mathius assured that two of the protesters who provoked the riot were apprehended and the situation was under control after police shot tear gas toward the group. “We secured two people. They have been detained,” Mathius explained. "Those two started [the riot] and there were some who triggered. Police shot tear gas and dispersed the crowd," he added.

Governor Lukas Enembe was named as a suspect in an alleged corruption case in Papua. He is also being investigated by the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) for a number of suspicious transactions wired to his personal bank account and a number of his family members.

The PPATK then discovered various suspicious transactions linked to the governor such as hundreds of billions of rupiah flowing to a casino and transactions of luxury items purchased by the governor's family members.

In its investigation, KPK had summoned a representative of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino, which is believed to be the casino where Lukas Enembe gambled. However, the casino’s representatives did not respond to the anti-graft agency's summons.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA | MIRZA BAGASKARA

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