Jayawijaya regent faces graft charge

JAYAPURA: Jayawijaya Regent David Agustin, who has been accused of embezzling local administration funds in 2003 and 2004, was detained on Friday at Wamena Penitentiary.

Head of the Papua Prosecutor's Office Kadir Sitanggang said that dossiers of the graft case had been completed and the suspect would soon be put on trial.

David is among dozens of local administration officials and councilors facing graft charges in the ongoing massive anticorruption campaign, which was launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Meanwhile, dozens of David's supporters in Wamena held a demonstration on Friday, demanding the authorities put the regent under house arrest instead of putting him in jail. -- Antara