“I had coordinated with the police chief and regional police chief. I allowed them to clean up this matter,” she said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Friday.

Hafid made the statement in response to the arrests of 11 individuals, including the ministry’s employees, in connection with an online gambling case.

She has directed all ranks within the ministry to assist in investigative efforts carried out by the police in the case.

“All ranks should support the instruction to comply with the integrity pact that we have established to jointly fight online gambling,” she emphasized.

In addition, she assured that ministry employees found to be involved in the case will be dishonorably discharged. The employees who have been named suspects will be temporarily suspended during the investigation.

According to Hafid, the police’s efforts to uncover online gambling practices within her ministry are part of an internal clean-up.

“Hopefully, this will be a good effort to clean this (online gambling) up. (This is) According to President Prabowo Subianto’s message to combat online gambling,” the minister added.

Earlier, the Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police arrested 11 suspects, including employees of the Communication and Digital Affairs Ministry, in Bekasi, West Java, in connection with an online gambling case.

“Some of the 11 people are employees of the Communication and Digital Ministry and also expert staff,” the head of public relations of Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Senior Commissioner Ade Ary Syam Indradi, confirmed on Friday.

He informed that the employees had the authority to check online gambling websites and block them. However, they misused their authority by not blocking such sites.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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