Antasari threatened Nasruddin: Witness tells court

A witness in a high-profile trial involving former antigraft body chief Antasari Azhar, charged with murder, said Thursday victim Nasruddin Zulkarnaen had known his life had been threatened.

"He said in January … it was Antasari [Azhar] who threatened him," Endang Muhammad Hasan, the father of Nasruddin's third wife Rhani Juliani, told a hearing in South Jakarta District Court.

Endang said when he asked Nasruddin why, he said it was because he had a big “case” in Jakarta.

"I'm planning to report [the case] to the House of Representatives and will ask Rhani to stand as a witness in the case," Endang said, quoting Nasruddin

Endang, however, said he had no idea what the case was about.

"He did not tell me," he said.

Antasari, former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), is currently on trial for allegedly masterminding the murder of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, a director in state pharmaceutical company PT Putra Rajawali Banjaran.

Nasruddin was killed in a drive-by shooting near Modernland golf course in Tangerang in March this year.

In their indictment, the prosecutors had recounted details of a sexual affair between Rhani and Antasari in a room at the Grand Mahakam Hotel in South Jakarta in May last year. Nasruddin caught the pair and later hounded Antasari's family over the affair.

The prosecutors believed this had triggered Antasari to have Nasruddin killed.