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nticorruption activists have warned Muhammad Nazaruddin that he would be obstructing justice should he continue to insist on pretending that he has forgotten all information related to alleged corruption implicating top Democratic Party executives.

Earlier on Thursday, the former party treasurer told the press he had forgotten everything he said during TV interviews that he conducted while on the run abroad. In the interviews he accused several figures, including party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, of corruption and vote buying.

Nazaruddin was arrested in Cartagena, Colombia, last week and was brought home to Indonesia on Saturday, almost three months after he left the country.

Senior lawyer and rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said on Friday in Jakarta that Nazaruddin’s refusal to explain his previous TV statements for the sake of the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) investigations could be construed as obstruction of justice.

“He has an obligation to reveal what he told the media,” Todung said during his visit to the KPK’s headquarters. Todung was accompanied by dozens of other prominent figures who came to voice their support for the antigraft body.

Among those present were political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, former KPK leader Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, University of Indonesia economist Faisal Basri and Judicial Corruption Taskforce member Mas Achmad “Ota” Santosa.

Ikrar echoed Todung’s statement, saying that Nazaruddin should cooperate with law enforcers instead of hampering the investigations.

He said it was apparently a trend nowadays for graft suspects to forget what they had done and/or said when they were questioned on their roles in graft cases.

“This has become a trend since Nunun said she was suffering from amnesia,” Ikrar said, referring to graft fugitive Nunun Nurbaeti, a key suspect in a bribery case centering on the election of a central bank top job candidate in 2004.

The visitors said they were afraid the KPK would face “attacks from pro-corruption forces”.

Ota said the KPK must be able to expand its investigation into Nazaruddin to probe alleged massive budget misuse at the House of Representatives and corruption in government procurement projects.

“Don’t stop at Nazaruddin,” he said. “There are many other players out there.”

Separately, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not respond to a letter from Nazaruddin asking him to protect the latter’s wife and children.

Nazaruddin’s lawyers earlier said that his client had written a letter to Yudhoyono saying he was willing to be imprisoned “for years” as long as his wife and children were safe.

His three children are reportedly in Kuala Lumpur with their mother, Neneng Sriwahyuni, who was also named a graft suspect by the KPK.

“Nazaruddin is now under investigation by the KPK and therefore any affairs related to his case are for law enforcement officers to deal with,” Sudi said in a statement.

“It is not necessary for Nazaruddin to fear for his family because Indonesia is a nation that respects the law, justice and human rights,” Sudi said.

Nazaruddin was named a suspect in a high-profile bribery case linked to a SEA Games construction project in Palembang, South Sumatra.

The KPK has said that Nazaruddin allegedly played roles in different graft cases involving 35 government projects in several ministries, worth a total of Rp 6.037 trillion (US$706.33 million).