Jakarta. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has accused a prosecutor from the Banten Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of extorting a South Korean national who was standing trial in Indonesia, the agency said on Friday.

The prosecutor was detained along with eight other individuals during KPK operations carried out in Jakarta and Banten two days earlier.

KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said the alleged victim was a South Korean citizen undergoing a criminal trial as a defendant. “A South Korean national who was on trial as a defendant became the victim of alleged extortion by a law enforcement officer,” Budi told a press briefing in Jakarta.

According to Budi, the defendant was facing charges related to data theft. The prosecutor, identified by the initials RZ, allegedly demanded money from the defendant in exchange for a lighter sentence.

“The threats used included seeking a longer prison sentence, detention during the trial process, and other forms of intimidation,” Budi said.

In addition to the prosecutor, KPK also detained the defendant’s legal counsel and a court interpreter.

Budi said KPK has since handed the extortion case over to the Attorney General’s Office, which had launched its own investigation into the matter two days earlier.

During the arrest operations, investigators seized around Rp 900 million ($54,000) in cash from the suspects.

Budi stressed that the case was particularly serious because it involved a law enforcement official and a foreign national as the victim, warning that such allegations could damage Indonesia’s reputation internationally.

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