Bali Three Have Death Sentences Commuted
Indonesia’s highest court has commuted death sentences to life imprisonment for three convicted Australian drug traffickers, their lawyer said Thursday (6/3). Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen were among nine Australians arrested in 2005 on the resort island of Bali after being caught with 8.2 kg (18 pounds) of heroin. “Their sentences were downgraded to life imprisonment,” said defense attorney Erwin Siregar. The court’s reasoning for the reduction was not made public. The three were sentenced in 2006 to life imprisonment by the Denpasar District Court, but on a later appeal the Supreme Court upgraded the sentences to death. Three other Australians in the group, known as the “Bali Nine,” were sentenced to death, while two were given life imprisonment. A woman in the group received a 20-year sentence. (March 6th 2008, AP)
Presidential Shooting Suspect Surrenders in East Timor
A man accused of playing a part in the shooting & wounding of East Timor’s president last month has handed himself in to police custody. Amaro da Costa, who reportedly surrendered without a fight late on Saturday (8/3) said he had taken part but had not shot Jose Ramos-Horta. He said he had surrendered because he wanted the country to “live in calm”. The wounded leader is recovering from multiple rounds of surgery in an Australian hospital. The country has been under a state of emergency since the rebel attack. Security forces have been scouring the hills around Dili since the attack in their search for the rebels, who are renegade soldiers with grievances dating back to the violence that paralyzed East Timor in May 2006. They are still looking for Gastao Salsinha, who replaced Alfredo Reinado as the rebels’ leader after he was killed during the attacks. The military said it had had “direct and indirect contact” with him and hoped he would also surrender shortly. (March 2nd 2008, BBC)
Indonesian President SBY Spends Rp. 200 Million on Prize Fish
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had just bought a super red arowana fish for 200 million rupiah. The rare “scleropages formosus,” is a freshwater fish native to the wilds of Indonesian Borneo which is nearing extinction. While the so-called “super red” arowana is disappearing in nature, demand for the undulating fish is booming in the tanks of Asia’s rich. And although breeding is only permitted in three countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore - the arowana’s growing popularity as a symbol of new-found wealth could be what saves it from extinction. A recent fair dedicated to arowanas in Indonesia’s capital ended with sales equivalent to 20,000 dollars for one fish and 22,100 dollars for another, said Stephen Suryaatmadja, founder and chairman of the Indonesian Arowana Club. That’s nowhere near the top of the price scale as speculation has seen some arowanas change hands for as much as 55,000 dollars. (March 15th 2008, Bali Post)
Ex Bali Prison Boss Jailed for Drugs
The former security chief of a Bali prison where several Australians are imprisoned for drug trafficking was today found guilty of drugs and weapons charges. Mohammad Sudrajat was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment after Denpasar District Court found him guilty of possessing crystal methamphetamine (ice) and illegally possessing ammunition for a firearm. At the time of his arrest last year, Sudrajat was head of security at Kerobokan Prison, where the Bali Nine heroin smugglers and convicted cannabis trafficker Schapelle Corby are housed. Denpasar District Court Chief Judge I Nyoman Sutama today said the former security chief was “officially and convincingly guilty’’ of the charged crimes. The panel of judges said that Sudrajat had been well mannered during his trial and had no prior convictions, but the crimes were “against the government efforts which are strongly fighting drugs’’. “The defendant was an officer of the prison, (a) security head who was supposed to secure (the prison) but was then involved in drugs,’’ he said. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of seven years imprisonment. The court previously heard police found 50 live bullets for a 0.22 firearm in Sudrajat’s office at the prison, but he did not have a license for the ammunition. He was also found with packages of ice totaling 0.3g, which police alleged he was going to deliver to a person in Denpasar when he was arrested last September. (March 10th 2008, AAP)
Bali Nine, Corby Dealt Transfer Blow
The Bali Nine and Schapelle Corby face an obstacle to their chances of returning eventually to Australia under a prisoner transfer deal with Indonesia. Indonesian authorities say they are opposed to transfers of prisoners convicted of drugs crimes or terrorism back to Australia. Australia and Indonesia have been slowly negotiating a prisoner exchange deal for more than two years. Indonesia says there are still a number of sticking points between the two countries, including how long inmates must serve before being transferred. Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Ministry spokesman Kolier Haryanto said Indonesian negotiators believed that prisoners jailed for terrorism and drugs crimes were to be left out of any deal. An Australian embassy spokesman said Australia was committed to concluding a deal, but it was inappropriate to comment on how the treaty would be applied in particular cases. Earlier, Indonesia’s prisons director General Untung Sugiyono told reporters there was still disagreement about whether people convicted of drugs crimes could be transferred back to Australia. Sugiyono met with Schapelle Corby as he inspected Kerobokan Prison, and she took the opportunity to reject reports she had been allowed to go on outings from the prison. Corby said she had been let of out her Bali prison home only three times in the past four years - for medical reasons. (March 2nd 2008, AAP)
RI to Build Four Nuclear Power Plants by 2025
The Indonesian government is planning to build four nuclear power plants (PLTNs) by 2025, despite protests by environmental groups, Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said here Wednesday (12/3). “If one PLTN has a capacity to produce 1,200 MW, we will need four nuclear power plants by 2025 to meet domestic need for electricity,” the Minster said during a visit to Sebelas Maret University. A number of locations where the nuclear power plants could be set up had already been surveyed, including places in the northern parts of Java Island and in the southern parts of Kalimantan Island, he said. “Construction of nuclear power plants is already provided for in a law and included in the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN) 2004-2025,” he said. Construction of the Muria PLTN in Jepara, Central Java, was expected to be finalized in 2016 and therefore work on the project had to begin in 2008, Kusmayanto said. Regarding the existence of popular resistance to the government plans to build nuclear power plants, the minister said people were free to express their opinion on the matter but the government’s plans could only be stopped if the law providing for the development of nuclear power was changed. Meanwhile, the government would continue to prepare the technology, funding and human resources needed to build and operate nuclear power plants, he said. (March 11th 2008, Antara News)
Corby Spotted at Bali Restaurant
The revelation Corby may have bought her way out of Bali’s Kerobokan prison for dinner with her sister at the Kebab Palace restaurant in Kuta aired on the Nine Network tonight. It came as federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus scotched hopes that Corby and at least three members of the Bali Nine could be back in Australia to serve out their sentences by year’s end. Brisbane woman Elizabeth Short said she snapped photos while on a Bali family holiday last month. “I know it was Schapelle and I knew it was Mercedes. No question. I knew straight away,’’ Ms Short told the Nine Network. “Anyone who sees these photos will know I’m telling the truth.’’ Australian man Shane Jarvis said he was dining in the restaurant when the photographs were taken. “I just couldn’t believe it. This person was supposed to be doing time,’’ he said. But Rosleigh Rose denied her daughters were photographed, saying Schapelle had been out of prison only to visit a dentist since she was convicted of drug trafficking. “I know my kids. It’s nothing a bit like them,’’ Ms Rose said, examining the snaps. “I wish people would start to get a bloody life and leave us alone, so that’s it. Finished. I ain’t talking no more.’’ Corby, arrested in 2004 at Bali’s Denpasar airport with 4.2kg of marijuana in her luggage, was jailed for 20 years but has always maintained she was innocent. (March 11th 2008, AAP)
Aussie Faces Jail in Bali for Hashish
An Australian man could face up to 10 years in prison after being caught with a small amount of hashish in Bali, Indonesian authorities say. Indonesian police have wrapped up their investigation into David Bruce Houston, 39, of Perth, and handed the file to prosecutors. They have recommended three sets of charges, including drug possession which carries a 10-year prison sentence and 500 million rupiah fine. The other charges are drug use, with a maximum four-year jail term, or being a drug addict who failed to report to police, which carries a punishment of six months imprisonment. Police allege Houston was carrying 2.9g of hashish in his pocket when he was arrested by police outside a Kuta house on January 12. Police have previously said he had admitted undergoing rehabilitation in Australia 10 years ago.(March 12th 2008, Denpost)
Bali Shuts Down for Day of Silence
The normally vibrant Indonesian tourist destination of Bali came to a standstill Friday (7/3) as the island’s Hindu majority celebrated the start of the Hindu New Year. The Day of Silence, known here as Nyepi, saw Balinese confined to their homes, unable to work, play and - for some - even talk or eat. The island’s international Ngurah Rai airport was closed while shops were shuttered and streets deserted apart from the presence of traditional guards tasked with enforcing the silence. The strictly enforced silence - which started at dawn and will continue until dawn on Saturday - is intended as a time of spiritual contemplation for Balinese Hindus, whose unique brand of the religion incorporates many practices found only on the island. Despite the fact that Balinese Hindus make up a small minority of the general population, Nyepi is observed as a national holiday in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. (March 8th 2008, Reuters)
Indonesian Airline Risks Suspension
Indonesia’s transport minister has warned that budget airline Adam Air could be forced to halt its operations after a series of accidents involving the carrier, state media reports. In the latest incident, a Boeing 737-400 operated by Adam Air with more than 170 people on board overshot the runway at the airport on Batam Island, causing damage to the plane and injuring five people. The third category under the ministry’s rating system means the airline has three months to improve before its operation is suspended if it does not get better. Currently Adam Air is in the second category, which means it has fulfilled minimum safety requirements but still has deficiencies. Adam Air spokesman Danke Drajat said the airline, which flies mainly domestic routes but also to Singapore, was doing its best to improve its safety standards. In January last year, an Adam Air plane crashed into the sea off Sulawesi Island, with all 102 on board missing and presumed dead. (March 12th 2008, AP)
Java Jazz “Go Green” Invites Spectators to Fight Global Warming
The three-day Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2008, in cooperation with three environmental organizations invited its spectators to learn how to manage garbage in a movement dubbed with “Java Jazz Go Green Don’t Just Watch, Do Something!” Director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia Mubariq Ahmad in a press conference on Saturday (8/3/) said history shows that some world musical stages could become an important forum to voice the message of changes in the fight against social problems. “A small step taken by each spectator will bring us to a better environment,” he said. The Java Jazz Go Green program is established by the Java Jazz Production in cooperation with the Conservation International Indonesia, WWF Indonesia, The Nature Conservancy and several mass media. Up to 1500 artists performed in the jazz festival held from March 7 to 9, 2008. (March 10th 2008, Antara News)
