Indonesian politician ‘hurt’ after car crash

A top Indonesian politician who is embroiled in a scandal involving an epic theft of public money has been hospitalised after a car crash that is being widely mocked online as another tactic to avoid arrest.

Indonesians were hardly surprised that their Donald Trump-admiring speaker of parliament Setya Novanto was nowhere to be found this week when police went to arrest him. But the car crash has unleashed a wave of incredulity among a public often indifferent to the slippery moves of Indonesian politicians.

Images swept across social media on Thursday night showing a black SUV with a dented grill resting against a power pole, and Novanto apparently unconscious in a hospital bed with a bandage on his head.

Jakarta police have yet to reach a conclusion in their accident investigation, but Novanto’s lawyer said the politician was injured and anyone who calls the incident fake should be reported to police.