Jakarta, Aug. 31 -- Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman dismissed 13 of his echelon officials suspected of involvement in online gambling, which he deemed a violation of discipline and a blemish on the integrity of the civil service.

Amran said the decision was made following a leadership meeting that began at 6:00 a.m. local time and continued with a discussion of the investigation findings concerning the officials.

"After the meeting, we took action against some echelon officials. There is no need to mention their names, just that they are officials. We dismissed 13 people for indiscipline and involvement in online gambling," the minister said at a press conference on Monday.

The dismissals followed reports received by the minis...