Maluku official detained for graft

AMBON, Maluku: Prosecutors took Southeast Maluku deputy regent Lukas Umuratuw into custody on Thursday charging him with involvement in a Rp 7 billion (US$ 7 million) corruption case.

Lukas' detention drew a strong protest, with some 500 supporters gathering later on Thursday in front of the Southeast Maluku Prosecutor's Office to demand his release.

The protest ended peacefully after hundreds of police officers arrived at the scene.

Lukas is being charged with illegally inflating the purchase price of a ship bought by the administration. The ship cost the regental administration Rp 14 billion (US$1.4 million), about twice the price of its normal market value of around Rp 7 billion, prosecutors said.

He is being detained in Waiheru Prison. His trial would begin soon, prosecutors said.-- JP