JAKARTA - INDONESIANS protested online and in the streets on Monday against the arrest of two anti-graft officials and perceived moves to muzzle the country's once-powerful corruption watchdog.

Less than a week after it was launched, more than 400,000 people had joined a page on social networking site Facebook which aims to create a million-strong 'movement' in support of the detained officials.

Meanwhile, about 300 people waving black flags and banners depicting the police as crocodiles demonstrated in central Jakarta to demand President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono protect the watchdog Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Senior KPK investigators Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto were arrested on Thursday to stop them talking to the media over allegations they tried to abuse their power, police said. But rather than silence the two officials, the move only fuelled public anger at the police and speculation that senior police officers and prosecutors are trying to cripple the independent corruption watchdog.

Dr Yudhoyono, re-elected in July on the back of promises to stamp out rampant corruption in the South-east Asian archipelago, called a rare press conference on Friday to appeal for calm and patience. But his faith in the police and the 'legal process' rang hollow for many Indonesians who believe the KPK is being sabotaged by vested interests in the security forces, the attorney general's office and the government.

The government said on Monday it had established a fact-finding team to look into the circumstances surrounding the arrests of the KPK officials. -- AFP