Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Constitutional Court Chairman Mahfud MD said the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPKS) must protect corruption suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin who was reportedly arrested by Interpol in Cartagena, Colombia.

"I hope the LPKS will provide protection for former Democrat Party treasurer Nazaruddin after he arrives in Indonesia. We have to be fair," Mahfud said during a fast-breaking function here on Monday.

He said the problem that implicated Nazaruddin, and the people he had accused of being implicated, should be settled based on the law.

"Everything must be made clear and he (Nazaruddin) should be protected from possible terror because there should be reason whatsoever for him to be afraid to speak out (reveal information on corruption)," the Constitutional Court (MK) chairman said.

Former Democrat Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin was caught with his wife and several other people at 2 am local time in Cartagena, Colombia, on Monday, police said.

Nazaruddin is wanted as a suspect in a bribery case linked to a Sea Games athletes village project in Palembang, South Sumatra.

He fled to Singapore a day before the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) asked the ministry of justice and human rights to issue a travel ban for him on May 24.

He had been to several countries before he was caught in Cartagena, the head of the National Police`s public relations division, Inspector General Anton Bachrul Alam, said.

"Nazaruddin departed from Singapore to Vietnam and then he went to Cambodia and by a chartered plane to Bogota through Madrid, Spain, and then the Republic of Dominica," he said.

He said the team that had been hunting him consisted of seven men from the Indonesian police, Interpol and immigration.

The team had been following him for a long time in coordination with local police.

In an effort to arrest him the Indonesian police had issued a red notice for the international police to help. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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