JAKARTA, October 8, 2009 (AFP) - Indonesia's former anti-corruption tsar was charged with murder Thursday and could face the death penalty for allegedly masterminding the assassination of a rival in a love triangle.

In a case that has electrified the media and fuelled speculation of a conflict between the corruption watchdog and senior police, defendant Antasari Azhar shook his head in disbelief when the charges were read in court.

"I object to all the accusations," the former prosecutor and suspended chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) told the South Jakarta district court.

Wearing a traditional batik shirt, he told reporters as he entered the court that he had no role in the shooting murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, the head of a state-owned company and a former witness for the KPK.

The indictment alleges the killing in Jakarta in March was related to a love triangle involving the two men and a 22-year-old female golf caddy.

Azhar was arrested on May 4 and has been held in police custody.

"I'm optimistic. I was not involved, 1,000 percent. There's a big scenario behind this case, related to my position as the head of the KPK," he said, indicating he believes he has been framed.

"I will expose everything.... The day he was murdered, I was in Australia," he added.

Prosecutor Cirus Sinaga charged the high-profile corruption fighter with "premeditated murder" and called for the death penalty.

The case has thrown the work of the KPK into turmoil and cast a cloud over President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's promises to lead a tough fight against corruption in the resource-rich country of 234 million people.

Established in 2003 after the rampant venality of the Suharto dictatorship and a series of banking scandals, the KPK has claimed several high-profile scalps including senior prosecutors, bankers and lawmakers.

In June, the father-in-law of Yudhoyono's eldest son was jailed for four-and-a-half years for embezzling millions of dollars from the central bank, after an investigation led by the KPK.

Despite Indonesia's recent gains, corruption monitors at Transparency International continue to rate the country among the most corrupt in the world.