The sister of jailed drug courier Schapelle Corby has been ordered to appear at a secret hearing to determine if she helped process proceeds of crime. Queensland Chief Justice Paul De Jersey has ordered Mercedes Corby to appear at the hearing in Brisbane, News Ltd reported on Thursday (20/3). The Supreme Court last year froze $280,000 in proceeds from Schapelle Corby’s tell-all book, My Story, and also the payments from a women’s magazine which interviewed Mercedes. Australian Federal Police sought the order to question Mercedes, who lives in Bali where Schapelle is serving a 20-year sentence, on the basis that she appeared to have been the “facilitator” of both publishing deals. Funds from both deals were allegedly paid into the account of Mercedes’ Indonesian husband, Wayan Widyartha. (March 20th 2008, AAP)
Indonesia the First to Form World Ocean Forum
According to a statement made by the Minister of Marine and Fishery Affairs Freddy Numberi, Indonesia was hoping that the World Ocean Conference (WOC) scheduled in Manado, North Sulawesi, from May 11 to 15, 2009, would produce a World Ocean Forum. In a press release on Friday (21/3) Numberi also said that he expected the 2009 WOC to include a Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD) to be followed by a number of action plans, and implementation of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) as a regional cooperation between the Philippines, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, the Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It was also expected that the WOC would be followed by symposiums and exhibitions for an exchange of views and information on the development of the world’s oceans. Invitations have been issued to 121 countries as well as plans for infrastructure and facilities scheduled for completion by March 2009, while the North Sulawesi provincial administration has prepared 3,100 hotel and 3,000 home-stay rooms. (March 23rd 2008, Antara News)
Dengue Fever Rife Throughout Bali
Sanglah General Hospital has recorded a record number of admissions for Dengue fever for the months of January and February this year. Five hundred and ninety eight patients were admitted over these two months. The highest figure of three hundred and fifty one cases was recorded during February, which was more than thirty percent of the hospitals total admissions. Other hospitals around the Island are also experiencing record admissions because of the disease. (April 1st 2008, Denpost)
Hackers Hit Indonesian Web Site after Ban on Online Pornography
Hackers protested a law banning online pornography by posting a picture of a topless male model on the Web site of Indonesia’s information ministry. “Congratulations on the law,’’ said a message above the picture, which was posted Thursday and taken down 11 hours later, said Sukemi, a spokesman for the Communication and Information Ministry. Sukemi, who goes by a single name, said the site’s security had since been strengthened. Parliament passed the law Tuesday (25/3) that makes accessing or posting pornographic Web sites punishable by up to 12 years in jail or a fine of up to 1 billion rupiah (US$107,000). It also bans the posting or accessing of gambling sites and threatening material. The law comes amid an ongoing debate in Indonesia, which has more Muslims than any other country, on how to stop the distribution of pornographic materials. The issue has become a rallying cry for the country’s small but vocal hard-line Muslim fringe. (March 28th 2008, AP)
Thrash Infidel Australian Tourists, says Radical Indonesian Cleric
Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has called on his followers to beat up Western, and especially Australian tourists whom he described as infidels. In the sermon, organized by an Islamic youth organization, Persatuan Pemuda Islam Pantura (Java North Coast Islamic Youth Group), and delivered a few kilometers from the home village of convicted Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, Bashir likened tourists in Bali to “worms, snakes, maggots”, and specifically referred to the immorality of Australian infidels. According to new.com.au., an Australian university student, Nathan Franklin, who was conducting research at Islamic boarding schools in east Java, caught the sermon on video. Observers said the sermon’s content was a clear indication of what many terrorism academics have noted - that the accused spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah has been emboldened by his release from prison last year after serving 26 months for conspiracy in relation to the Bali blasts. Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Bashir’s remarks indicated that he has gone back to the pre-incarceration period where he was urging JI members to move in the direction of violence. The cleric has warned of retribution should the Bali bombers be executed by firing squad. (March 24th 2008 , ANI)
Aussie Drug Suspect Held in Indonesia
Jose Manuel Xavier, 53, was arrested on Tuesday (25/3) at Yogyakarta Airport where he had just arrived on a domestic flight from Bali, Indonesian police say. The dual Australian and Portuguese national, a long-term resident of Indonesia, was assisting police in a search of his house in Jepara, where he runs a furniture business and lives with his Indonesian wife. The Indonesian news website Detik.com said Xavier was detained in relation to a 27kg haul of heroin in Australia. However the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said he was detained over the seizure of 100 grams of cocaine. Indonesian National Police deputy spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam confirmed Xavier was detained following a request from Australian authorities. He would not say whether Xavier could face prosecution in Indonesia or would likely be returned to Australia. (March 27th 2008, AAP)
Indonesia: 21 Die after Drinking ‘Herbal Remedy’
Indonesian police say they are investigating the deaths of 21 people who drank a concoction labeled an herbal remedy. Lt. Col. Yatim Suyatmo said Friday (21/3) officers had yet to determine whether the brew was deliberately poisoned or inadvertently contaminated during production. The victims in the town of Jambi on Sumatra Island all died over the last two weeks, he said. He said the drink was made in a local factory. Scores of companies in Indonesia produce pills and drinks labeled as herbal remedies or tonics. The government, which is seeking to regulate the sector, say many contain unspecified chemicals. (March 28th 2008, AAP)
Australia Sees Closer Ties with Jakarta
The Rudd government will move for even closer defense ties with Indonesia, says Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. Mr. Fitzgibbon said a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Dr Juwono Sudarsono, for the first time in Canberra on Thursday (27/3) provided a timely opportunity to advance defense engagement and cooperation. It followed the recent ratification of the Australia-Indonesia Lombok Treaty on security cooperation. “Australia and Indonesia have a confident and maturing defense relationship, based on a foundation of mutual respect and trust,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said in a statement. “... We would like to deepen and expand on matters affecting our common security interests such as terrorism, regional security and piracy.” The ministers agreed their countries’ defense chiefs would pursue the development of Joint Understandings on the Australian-Indonesian Defense relationship to further defense cooperation. (March 27th 2008, AAP)
Indonesian Boy Dies of Suspected Bird Flu
A 15-year-old Indonesian boy has died of suspected bird flu, a doctor said Thursday. The boy, identified only as AY, was being transferred to a hospital in West Java when he died late Wednesday, said Hadi Yusuf, head of the facility’s bird flu team. ‘He has a history of contact with poultry on the family’s own backyard farm,’ Yusuf said. Tissue samples have been set away to be tested for the H5N1 virus, he added. Two positive results are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a human bird flu infection. Indonesia has the world’s highest number of human bird flu victims, with 105 known fatal cases. Experts fear the virus, which is usually spread directly from birds to humans, could mutate into a form easily transmissible between people, sparking a deadly global pandemic. Eleven people have died of bird flu in Indonesia this year, 10 of them from Jakarta and its surrounding areas. (March 27th 2008, AFP)
Nine Year Old Balinese Boy Killed by Hanging
Komang Sudiksa (9) of Kalanganyar, Karangasem was found hanging from a door frame at his home in what appeared to be a suicide at about 6am on Tuesday (23/3).Further investigation by members of the police forensic squad found evidence that the boy had not committed suicide but indeed had been murdered. Police are currently questioning a neighbor Gede Putra alias Mandra (40) in relation to the boys death. (March 29th 2008, Denpost)
Tabanan Man 19th Victim of HIV/AIDS for 2008 - Bali
A twenty eight year old Tabanan man is the latest to fall victim to the HIV/AIDS virus in Bali so far this year. The man known only as “S” was admitted to the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar on Thursday (27/3), and passed away on Sunday (30/3). His remains were taken back to his village for the last rites the following day.His is the nineteenth fatality from the disease recorded in Bali so far this year. In the previous week an inmate from the Kerobokan jail also died of the virus. The disease has become a serious problem in penitentiaries around the country. (April 1st 2008, Denpost)
