Indonesia’s Prabowo to challenge election results in court

Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is set to lodge a legal challenge against his loss to incumbent Joko Widodo after the worst political violence to rock Jakarta in two decades left seven protesters dead and hundreds injured.

Prabowo, as Subianto is commonly known, appealed to his supporters on Wednesday night to halt protests as he was seeking legal remedy against the official result confirming Widodo’s win in the April 17 election. The former general was set to file an appeal with the Constitutional Court on Thursday, according to his spokesman Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak. Prabowo unsuccessfully challenged his loss to Widodo in 2014.

President Joko Widodo won 55.5% of votes in the poll to lead the world’s third-biggest democracy, beating retired general Prabowo, who got 44.5%, the General Election Commission (KPU) said on Tuesday.

After the announcement, Prabowo repeated earlier claims that there had been widespread cheating in favor of the incumbent and thousands of his supporters demonstrated in the capital this week to protest against the result.

Eight people were killed, including three teenagers, while 737 were hurt in two nights of rioting, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said.

The election agency has said there was no evidence of systematic cheating and independent observers have said the poll was free and fair.

Police have arrested hundreds of people accused of taking part in the riots or provoking violence, two of whom were members of a militant group that had pledged support for Islamic State, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said.

Police had also found envelopes containing money, suggesting instigators had paid some of the rioters, Iqbal said, adding that tests showed some of the suspects had taken the stimulant methamphetamine.

Widodo has warned of tough action against those instigating riots, while Prabowo has called for peaceful protests and restraint.

The government has deployed 58,000 police and soldiers across Jakarta to maintain security and put temporary blocks on some social media to prevent unrest sparked by fake news.