JAKARTA, Indonesia: Police said an anti-corruption commission investigator leading a probe into a scandal that threatens to implicate high-profile Indonesian politicians was attacked Tuesday with a chemical as he returned from dawn prayers.
Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said Novel Baswedan was attacked by two assailants on a motorcycle after leaving a neighborhood mosque. He said police are still investigating.
Local media described the incident as an acid attack. Images that circulated online showed Baswedan’s eyes and forehead swollen and discolored.
The anti-corruption commission is currently prosecuting a case in which it alleges about 80 conspirators and several companies stole more than a third of the funds provided for a $440 million electronic identity card system in 2011 and 2012.
Some of those allegedly implicated have key roles in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s governing coalition. They include the justice minister, a former interior minister, the current speaker of parliament and two provincial governors. The names were revealed in an indictment presented to a special corruption court last month at the start of a trial of two Interior Ministry officials.
Jokowi said he has ordered police to investigate the “barbaric” attack on Baswedan and capture the assailants.
Baswedan was arrested by the national police in May 2015 when he was accused of fatally shooting a detainee while serving as a police officer in Bengkulu province in 2004.
A public uproar resulted in police dropping the case. Many activists believed police were seeking revenge for Baswedan’s role in investigating corruption among senior officers.
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Indonesian corruption investigator attacked with chemical
Indonesian corruption investigator attacked with chemical
Iran-linked hackers claim cyberattack on Albanian parliament
- Albania hosts several thousand members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK), an organization that Iran has denounced as 'terrorist'
- Albania’s IT services were targeted, in 2022, prompting the Balkan country to sever diplomatic ties with Iran
TIRANA: Albania’s parliament on Tuesday said it had been hit with a “sophisticated cyberattack,” after Iran-linked hackers claimed to have stolen lawmakers’ data.
A group called “Homeland Justice,” which has previously been linked to Iran and claimed responsibility for past cyberattacks in Albania, announced the hack on Telegram.
“All conversations and correspondence of corrupt MPs from recent months are in the hands of Homeland Justice,” the post said.
“We are much closer to you than you think.”
Albania hosts several thousand members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK), an organization that Iran has denounced as “terrorist.”
Experts have warned that as the war in the Middle East continues, highly capable hackers linked to Iran have broadened their activities.
In a statement, the Albanian parliament said its computer systems had been hit with a “sophisticated cyberattack aimed at deleting data and compromising several internal systems.”
“It was found that information had been deleted from several accounts belonging to administration employees,” it added, saying “the main working infrastructure” did not appear to be affected and that measures had been taken “to neutralize the attack.”
The country’s National Cyber Security Authority said it had teams investigating the attack.
“Further information will be made public after the technical assessment is completed,” the authority’s director, Saimir Kapllani, told AFP.
In June, Homeland Justice also attacked the information technology services of the Albanian capital, Tirana.
In 2022, Albania’s IT services were also targeted, prompting the Balkan country to sever diplomatic ties with Iran.
A group called “Homeland Justice,” which has previously been linked to Iran and claimed responsibility for past cyberattacks in Albania, announced the hack on Telegram.
“All conversations and correspondence of corrupt MPs from recent months are in the hands of Homeland Justice,” the post said.
“We are much closer to you than you think.”
Albania hosts several thousand members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK), an organization that Iran has denounced as “terrorist.”
Experts have warned that as the war in the Middle East continues, highly capable hackers linked to Iran have broadened their activities.
In a statement, the Albanian parliament said its computer systems had been hit with a “sophisticated cyberattack aimed at deleting data and compromising several internal systems.”
“It was found that information had been deleted from several accounts belonging to administration employees,” it added, saying “the main working infrastructure” did not appear to be affected and that measures had been taken “to neutralize the attack.”
The country’s National Cyber Security Authority said it had teams investigating the attack.
“Further information will be made public after the technical assessment is completed,” the authority’s director, Saimir Kapllani, told AFP.
In June, Homeland Justice also attacked the information technology services of the Albanian capital, Tirana.
In 2022, Albania’s IT services were also targeted, prompting the Balkan country to sever diplomatic ties with Iran.
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