Antara & Jakarta Globe – The Singaporean government on Sunday deported five Indonesian activists who went to the city-state to search for embroiled Democratic Party lawmaker Muhammad Nazaruddin.

"We came to Singapore to coordinate with the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore (KBRI) to find out Nazaruddin's whereabouts," said one of the deported activists, Sarman, from the non-governmental group Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (Maki).

He said that KBRI had refused to meet with him and his fellow activists, prompting them to camp out in front of the diplomatic compound before being dismissed by the Singaporean police.

The group then moved to Ngee Ann City on the bustling Orchard Road to hold a rally. "Again, the Singapore police dismissed our activity and confiscated our passports," Sarman said.

The activists then explained that they were looking for Nazaruddin, one of the most wanted people in the country, but the police demanded an official letter from the KBRI for their activity. "But the KBRI did not want to cooperate," he said.

A lack of KBRI support in providing a letter led to the Maki activists being deported on Sunday morning.

Nazaruddin, the ousted treasurer of the ruling Democratic Party, has been squirreling away in Singapore since last month, when allegations about his involvement in alleged corruption in the construction of the athletes' village in Palembang first erupted.

The KPK had said that it has yet to find enough evidence linking Nazaruddin to the project, but the antigraft body now sought him for another graft case, this time involving the Education Ministry.