Celebrated Anti-Graft Investigator Injured in 'Barbaric' Acid Attack

A senior anti-graft investigator involved in the widening e-KTP corruption probe was hospitalized with severe burns on Tuesday after two men hurled acid in his face in an attack that's been called "barbaric" and an act of "terrorism."

Novel Baswedan, a prominent investigator with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was walking home from prayers Tuesday morning at the Jami Al Ihsan Mosque, a mere 30 meters from his North Jakarta home, when two men on motorcycle threw a cup of acid in his face. He suffered chemical burns and severe injury to his left eye in the attack, according to police. He remains in intensive care, according to reports in local media.

The attack shocked many in Indonesia, a country where even high-profile corruption investigations rarely result in this kind of brazen retaliatory attack. It's enough for Vice President Jusuf Kalla to publicly question whether the acid attack was the work of "hit men" and it prompted President Joko Widodo to order the National Police to set up a special unit to investigate and arrest those behind the plot.

"[The attack] is a brutal action that I condemn," the president said.

Novel is part of the team investigating allegations of widespread corruption in the central government's troubled e-KTP program. The scheme, which provided electronic ID cards to Indonesian citizens, was reportedly the source of significant kickbacks that cost the state some $170 million USD in losses.

The investigation, which has roots all the way back in 2009, uncovered claims that dozens of people—including several prominent members of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)—conspired to skim off as much as 49 percent of the e-KTP program's budget. According to the indictment, bribes ranging from $5,000 USD to $5.5 million USD were brazen handed out from a room in the House of Representatives (DPR) complex in Senayan, South Jakarta. Speaker of the House Setya Novanto, current Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly, and two high-ranking officials with the Ministry of Home Affairs were named in the indictment.

Setya and Yasonna have both denied any involvement in the graft scandal.

The case has become something of a test for the president, a man popularly known as Jokowi. Although the corruption scandal occurred on the watch of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it implicates several members of Jokowi's ruling coalition and cabinet, and has the potential to put him at further odds with PDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri. The two have shared a rocky relationship since the start of Jokowi's presidency, and Megawati's own party were among those behind efforts to defang the KPK with a law that would've severely limited its investigative powers.

The anti-graft agency is one of Indonesia's most-loved institutions. Efforts to pass the new law curtailing its powers set off protests in the Indonesian capital, and regular citizens collected spare change and sold off their cars to help fund a new building for the KPK after expansion plans were held up in the DPR.

The KPK is widely seen as one of the few clean institutions in a country routinely marred by corruption scandals and petty graft. The DPR, on the other hand, was seen as one of the most-corrupt according to a survey by Transparency International. The country itself ranks 90 out of 176 nations worldwide on Transparency International's list of corrupt nations, making it a place on par with Liberia and Colombia.

The KPK has promised to increase security details to prevent any future attacks.  "We've already had a security protocol at the KPK, but we will strengthen it," KPK Chief Agus Raharjo told local media.

Few investigators have as high a profile as Novel, a man celebrated in the press for fearlessly bringing allegations against some of the KPK's biggest fish to date. When Novel was the lead investigator in the case that brought down one of Indonesia's most powerful cops, the police attempted to force the KPK to hand Novel over for reassignment. He has since left the National Police to become a full-time investigator with the KPK.

The acid attack isn't the first time Novel's work made him the target of violence. He was hit by a car while riding his motorbike in 2012 as he was in the middle of an investigation into the then mayor of Buol, Central Sulawesi. Last year, he was hit by another car during his drive to work. Both times he only sustained minor injuries.