JAKARTA - POTENTIALLY explosive wiretap recordings allegedly demonstrating a high-level conspiracy to muzzle Indonesia's anti-graft agency were played in court for the first time on Tuesday.

The recordings have been presented as evidence of collusion between police, prosecutors and corruption suspects to silence anti-graft investigators, supposedly with the approval of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In the secret recordings played in the Constitutional Court, the brother of a businessman being investigated by the KPK is heard discussing the probe with police and senior prosecutors. They talk about various scenarios to save the businessman and put the KPK investigators behind bars for accepting bribes.

One of the alleged conspirators refers to 'RI-1", a nickname for Dr Yudhoyono, as being a backer of moves to 'close down' the KPK.

Dr Yudhoyono has angrily denied any involvement in a plot against the commission and has ordered police to investigate the tapes.

But he has stopped short of defending the arrested KPK officials, Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, saying he has faith in the police and must allow the 'legal process' to run its course. -- AFP