Playboy Office Moves to Bali - Jakarta Police Launch Indecency
Probe
Indonesian police are investigating possible indecency
violations by the editor of the local edition of Playboy and
two models that graced its first issue. Erwin Arnada, editor
of the fledgling spin-off of the U.S.-born men’s magazine,
and models Andara Early and Kartika Gunawan are considered
“suspects,” Jakarta police spokesperson Ketut
Untung Yoga said Friday (29/6).”Each will be processed
based on their roles. Many more may come,” he added.
Arnada moved the magazine’s offices to the resort island
of Bali in time for the publication of the second issue, which
emerged earlier this month. The Jakarta police force has no
jurisdiction over the second issue because of the new office
location. Some have defended Playboy Indonesia, pointing out
that other magazines for sale in the world’s most populous
Muslim nation - including local versions of men’s magazines
Maxim and FHM - are similarly explicit but not protested against.
However, the magazine has also drawn criticism from both the
country’s religious figures and many of its politicians.
(June 30th 2006, Reuters)
Prehistoric Fish Filmed in Indonesian Ocean
A team of Indonesian and Japanese scientists have filmed the
first ever live images of the extremely primitive and rare
coelacanth fish in deep waters off Manado, North Sulawesi
province, a newspaper report said Friday (29/6). The experts
from the Indonesian Oceanology Center and the Fukushima Aquamarine
Institute used a remotely operated vehicle to take pictures
of five of the fish swimming at between 150 and 200 meters
below sea level. The coelacanth was first rediscovered in
South Africa waters in1938, and was later caught dead in North
Sulawesi waters in 1998 and 1999. Scientists had previously
thought the fish had died out around 70-80 million years ago
and only knew of its existence from fossils. The discovery
of the first coelacanth was described as “akin to finding
a living dinosaur roaming the earth”. Researchers said
the latest find could indicate these fish originated in the
Manado Sea and later migrated to South Africa, revising an
earlier assumption that the species originated from South
Africa. The 5 ft long coelacanth is a predator that eats smaller
fish. The species from Manado, named the Latimerai manadoensis,
is a brownish color with white spots dotted all over its body.
Scientists were surprised at the extra fleshy fins of this
species, which they said resembled human hands and feet.
Experts said the coelacanth has lived for more 360 million
years under water, making it one of the world’s
oldest fish. Kasim, a former researcher from LIPI, said the
new video of the fish would help put Indonesia on the map
for aquamarine research. “We are going to publicize
these findings in Nature magazine,” he said, adding
that the fish was already protected under Indonesian law.
(June 29th 2006, Kerala news)
Bank Indonesia to Ban Single Ownership of Multiple Banks
The central bank will issue a regulation “as soon as
possible” to prohibit individuals or single families
from owning dominant stakes in more than one domestic commercial
bank, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said Thursday
(6/7). Individuals and families who currently own more than
a “controlling interest” - defined by the central
bank as more than a 25.0% stake - in more than one bank will
have until the end of December 2008 to comply with the planned
law, Abdullah told reporters at a press briefing. They must
either to reduce those stakes or else merge the banks into
a single entity or form a holding company that has control
of the banks, he said. Abdullah didn’t provide any additional
details about the pending regulation. Bank
Indonesia first mooted a plan to tighten bank ownership criteria
in December as a means to speed consolidation of the country’s
fragmented banking sector. Bank mergers are already a key
component of the Indonesian Banking Architecture, a 10-year
master plan the central bank launched in 2004 to promote bank
sector consolidation and raise corporate governance to international
levels. The Indonesian government prioritized the acceleration
of bank mergers as a component of blue-ribbon policy package
unveiled late Wednesday (5/7) designed to strengthen the financial
sector and boost economic growth. (July 8th 2006, Dow Jones
Newswires)
Balinese Demand Increased Security at Besakih Temple
The people of Amlapura have approached local police authorities
in a bid to increase security measures at the Besakih Mother
Temple saying that the Temple is of high significance to Hindus
as well as being a popular tourist destination. A spokesman
from the Besakih village, I Wayan Gunastra said that temple
guards needed to be equipped with better communication facilities
such as two-way radios and mobile phones. According to another
spokesman from the village, I.G.B. Karyawan local authorities
had already received several phone calls and SMS messages
threatening to bomb the Besakih Temple, the largest Hindu
temple on the Island. These threats have prompted police authorities
to step up patrols around the temple, as well as station a
“tourist police” post on the grounds. The police
have also called on the local people to assist by being astute
and reporting any suspicious activity around the temple.
Plans for CCTV cameras will soon be realised, however locals
are pressuring the government to install the cameras sooner
rather than later. (July 1st 2006, Bali Post)
Indonesia to Execute Bali Bombers at Island Jail
Indonesia’s attorney general, Abdul Rahman Saleh, says
three key Bali bombers on death row are to be executed on
Nusakambangan Island, and not on Bali. Imam Samudra, Amrozi
and Ali Ghufron have been convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings,
which killed 202 people. In October, the trio were moved from
their Bali jail to Nusakambangan, just off the southern coast
of Central Java, because of security concerns. Under Indonesian
law, convicts sentenced to death should be executed in the
same area as they were sentenced. However, the attorney general’s
office has argued that the executions, which will take
place by firing squad, should be held at Nusakambangan because
the men are already in detention there. Mr. Saleh declined
to say when the executions would take place. (July 3rd 2006,
AEST)
Indonesia Confirms 40th Bird Flu Victim
A World Health Organisation laboratory test has confirmed
a five-year-old Indonesian boy who died last month was infected
with bird flu. His death takes the total number of confirmed
bird flu fatalities in the country to 40. A health ministry
official says the boy died on June 16 in Tulungagung, East
Java province, after being admitted to hospital eight days
earlier. Indonesia has seen a steady rise in human bird flu
infections and deaths since its first known outbreak of the
deadly H5N1 virus in poultry in late 2003. It has registered
more human deaths this year than any other country. (July
5th 2006, AEST)
Two Bali Bombers to Appeal Death Sentence
Lawyers for two of three bombers on death row for the 2002
Bali nightclub attacks say they will lodge a final appeal
against their client’s death sentences, as Indonesian
authorities prepare to carry out their executions. Amrozi,
Imam Samudra, and Ali Ghufron were sentenced to death over
the attacks, which killed 202 people, mostly tourists. The
lawyer for Amrozi, Wirawan Adnan, has told the AFP news agency
he will file for a judicial review with the Supreme Court
by the end of the month. He says his client was tried under
terror laws introduced after the attack, which the constitutional
court has ruled could not be applied to attacks committed
before they had passed. “When at first Amrozi was trialled
he was trialled with law did not exist at time of incidence
- there was no terrorism law, we told the court you should
not do this,” he said. The lawyer for Imam Samudra,
Qadhar Faisal, says he will also lodge an appeal within the
week. (July 5th 2006, AFP)
Home Made Bomb Blast Kills Boy in Sulawesi
An explosion in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province
has killed a 13-year-old boy. Police believe a home-made bomb
caused the blast in the district of Jeneponto, about 70 kilometres
southeast of the provincial capital, Makassar. The device
exploded on the side of a main road, where the boy was shepherding
goats. Central Sulawesi has been the scene of sectarian violence
between Muslims and Christians since 2000. The government
brokered a peace deal in 2001 but sporadic unrest has continued.
(July 5th 2006, ABC)
Bali Bombing Suspect Claims Brainwashing
An Islamic militant on trial for the 2005 Bali bombings on
Tuesday (4/7) admitted to meeting the alleged mastermind of
the attacks and withholding information from police - but
said he did so only after being brainwashed. Abdul Azis, 30,
told the Denpasar District Court he met Malaysian terror fugitive
Noordin Top 10 times in the months leading to the Oct. 1,
2005 suicide bombings that killed 20 people. He said he did
not know the strikes were being planned but suspected the
man he met was Noordin - one of Southeast Asia’s most
wanted militants. Azis also admitted helping design a web
site promoting holy war. “I do not agree with suicide
bombing or fighting against other religions,” he told
the court, adding that he did not go to police because
Noordin’s persuasive powers were too great to resist.
“Maybe he was using black magic,” said Azis, one
of four defendants standing trial in the attacks. They face
a maximum penalty of death if convicted. “He has an
extraordinary charisma more than my father.” (July 5th
2006, AFP)
Arrests in Jakarta over Australian Amphetamine Ring
In Jakarta, two men are being detained for allegedly attempting
to export two-million cold and flu tablets which could be
used to produce more than 20-million Australian dollars worth
of methamphetamines. They are accused of working with four
Australians who appeared in a Sydney court three weeks ago.
Indonesian police have confirmed that two Indonesian men have
been arrested in Jakarta for their role in a major drug smuggling
syndicate operating between Indonesia and Australia. Peter
Ka Tjien Jong is an Indonesian living in Australia and was
detained at Jakarta’s international airport nearly three
weeks ago. Police allege that he had hidden two million Actifed
cold and flu tablets with furniture labelled for export to
Australia. His alleged accomplice Samuel Rantesalu was also
arrested. The men are accused of working with four Australians
accused of being members of a pseudoephedrine smuggling
syndicate who were charged in a Sydney court last month. (July
8th 2006, AFP)
UN Appeals for More Aid for Indonesian Quake Survivors
The United Nations says it is short more than $US60-million
in aid funding for the thousands of survivors of the
earthquake that struck the central Java in May. The UN is
appealing for funds to provide shelter for 100-thousand people,
as well as extra food and medical care for the thousands
of people with serious lingering injuries. It has also warned
that supplies of nutritional supplements for thousands of
babies, young children, and pregnant women would run out by
the end of July if the UN failed to raise at least four-and-a-half
million dollars by then. The UN estimates around 350-thousand
families were made homeless by the quake (July 4th 2006, AEST)
