Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The Presidential Palace has denied that the granting of clemency by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to former anti-Corruption Eradication Commission chief and murder convict Antasari Azhar was politically driven as claimed by former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"The clemency was granted in accordance with the law," presidential spokesman Johan Budi said at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

He added that the President's decision to grant clemency to Antasari was based on input from the Supreme Court. Jokowi granted clemency to Antasari last month after the latter was paroled six years early after being sentenced to 18 years for murdering businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.

"There is no relation between the clemency and with what Antasari did personally," he said. He refused to comment on Jokowi's response to allegations made by Yudhoyono.

In his latest Twitter rant, Yudhoyono claimed that Antasari's move to report him for allegedly being the initiator of the murder case was false and politically motivated. He claimed that his eldest son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono's candidacy in the Jakarta gubernatorial election made him and his family a target of libel in order to crush Agus' chances in the election.

Antasari said at a press conference at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday that he demanded Yudhoyono to speak up about the murder case. Antasari also claimed that MNC group chief executive officer Hary Tanoesoedibjo had visited him upon Yudhoyono's instructions to advise him to drop the corruption case against Agus' father-in-law, Aulia Pohan.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/02/14/palace-plays-down-yudhoyonos-allegations.html