Employee of international body arrested for alleged role in riots

The Indonesian police on Sept 1 arrested an employee of an organisation affiliated with the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta, cracking down against social media activists following deadly protests and riots.

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JAKARTA -

They accuse Ms Laras Faizati Khairunnisa of rallying protesters to set fire to the police headquarters in south Jakarta, at the peak of protests against lawmakers' excessive salaries last week.

The police's cybercrimes director, Brigadier-General Himawan Bayu Aji, said Ms Laras allegedly uploaded a video on her social media account rallying people to set fire to the police headquarters, which is located near her office.

Based on her LinkedIn profile, she is a communications officer for the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Secretariat. The organisation on Sept 3 said it had fired her.

At a press conference on Sept 3, Brig-Gen Himawan accused her of "creating and uploading a video on her Instagram that incites hatred towards individuals and groups, and inciting mass action".