Indonesia court orders ex-minister freed

A court in Indonesia has ordered the release of former government minister who was served with a warrant for his arrest while he was being treated in hospital.

The man, Ginanjar Kartasasmita, is suspected by the authorities of being involved in an alleged corruption scandal while serving as a senior economics minister under former president Suharto.

A court in Jakarta ruled that his detention was unlawful because he was a member of the air force at the time of the alleged offences, and only the commander of the armed forces had the legal right to arrest him. The corruption allegations centre on a payment of more than twenty-five million dollars from the state oil company to a gas firm owned by one of former president Suharto's sons, Bambang Trihatmojo.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service