Police Arrest Bali Stabbing Murder Suspect
Indonesian police have arrested a man in East Java who they suspect of murdering Sydney woman Heidi Murphy.Local officials say Ahmad Fahrul Rosi (23) is being taken to Bali for questioning later today. Another suspect Nuryanto told police last week that he drove Rosi to Heidi Murphy’s villa the night she was stabbed to death. Both men have previously served time in prison for theft. Ms Murphy’s body was found earlier this month with 16 major stab wounds and was cremated in Bali last Friday (22/2). (February 28th 2008, Radar Bali)
Telkom Ready to Cut its Telephone Tariffs by 20%
State telecommunication operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) will cut the retail tariff of all of its services by an average of 20 percent when the government-sanctioned reduced cost-based interconnection tariff takes effect on April 1, 2008, a spokesman said. The government on February 4 announced a new cost-based interconnection tariff which implied a reduction of 20-40 percent in cellular phone tariffs and a cut of 5-20 percent in fixed-wire tariffs.The interconnection tariff’s reduction by 20-40% was one of the components in deciding the collection tariff for teleco munication services. (February 27th 2008, Antara News)
Rp. 2 Trillion Allocated for Renewable Energy Development Still Unspent
The government has yet to spend as much as Rp. 2 trillion in funds allocated in the 2007 state budget for renewable energy development, an energy affairs official said. The funds had remained unused because the government had yet to establish a body tasked with developing renewable energy, Al Hilal Hamdi, head of the National Bio Energy Team, said here Thursday (28/2). “So far, we are still discussing establishment of the body, whether it will be handled by the agriculture ministry or the energy and mineral resource ministry,” Al Hilal said at a discussion on the productivity of cassava plantations. In 2007, the government allocated Rp. 2 trillion in funds for development of infrastructure related to renewable energy. The same amount was appropriated for the purpose in 2008. He said, the funds were meant to be used for development of agricultural infrastructure, building of roads and bridges to attract investors in alternative biofuel development in the country. (February 27th 2008, Antara News)
Garuda Sacks Jogjakarta Crash Pilot
Garuda Indonesia has fired the pilot of a plane that crashed in the city of Jogjakarta last year killing 21 people, including five Australians. Police have declared the pilot, Marwoto Komar, as a suspect in a criminal case of negligence following the fiery crash of the jetliner as he attempted to land it at Jogjakarta’s airport on March 7. A report by an Indonesian safety committee found that Komar had ignored 15 automatic warnings not to land the Boeing 737, which was carrying 140 passengers. “Garuda discharged him as of December 31,” said Captain Stephanus Geraldus, president of the Garuda Pilots Association. Captain Stephanus told AFP his organization had since sent repeated letters to Garuda’s management demanding that the dismissal be reconsidered, but that no answer had been received so far. Komar, who had been released from detention, on Thursday, answered a Jogjakarta police summons for a further round of questioning there. His lawyer, Kamal Firdaus, was quoted by the Detikcom online news website as saying that Garuda had allowed his client to either resign or be dismissed, and he had chosen the latter. (February 29th 2008, AFP)
Court Rejects Corruption Case against Suharto’s Son
An Indonesian court has rejected a civil case against the youngest son of ex-dictator Suharto for alleged corruption and awarded him five billion rupiah ($A587,000) in a countersuit he filed. “The panel of judges at the South Jakarta district court rejected all accusations filed by Bulog (the national logistics agency) against all defendants,” the chief of the panel, Haswandi, told the court. “The panel of judges accepted the counter-lawsuit filed by Tommy Suharto and ordered Bulog to pay immaterial damages to Tommy Suharto to an amount of Rp. 5 billion,” he added. Bulog had been seeking 550 billion rupiah from Tommy Suharto and other defendants in damages relating to an alleged 1995 land exchange scam. (February 28th 2008, AFP)
Indonesia Warned on Radical Books
Indonesia needs to keep a closer watch on a growing publishing network linked to militant group Jemaah Islamiah, a leading think-tank has said. The International Crisis Group says the Islamist organization appears to be trying to rebuild and spread its message via the printed word. The claim comes after a series of successful operations against the militants by security forces. Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for a string of attacks in Indonesia. The most notorious is the Bali night club bombing of 2002 in which more than 200 people died. The International Crisis Group (ICG) claims the network of printers, translators, designers, marketers, and distributing agents is one of many webs binding Jemaah Islamiah together. The ICG believes the material being published reflects a debate within the militant group over tactics. While some of the books are texts downloaded from websites linked to al-Qaeda, others are articles by well-known Middle Eastern radicals who have rejected terrorist methods. “These publishing houses should not be closed down or their books banned,” said the ICG’s John Virgoe. “But by enforcing existing laws on labor, trade, publishing and taxation, the government could exert closer scrutiny than it is doing now and gain valuable information at the same time.” (February 29th 2008, Xinhua)
Bali Bombers Lose Bid to Move Last Ditch Appeal
A Bali court has refused requests by three death row Bali bombers to move their last ditch appeals closer to their island prison. Bali’s Denpasar District Court today rejected requests by the trio to move the hearings to Cilacap District Court, to enable expert witnesses and possibly the convicted terrorists themselves to testify. The court is holding three separate judicial review hearings, one for each of the three terrorists: so-called smiling assassin Amrozi Nurhasyim, his brother Ali Ghufron (alias Mukhlas) and Imam Samudra. The three played key roles in the Bali nightclub bombings on October 12, 2002, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Prosecutors, representing the Indonesian government, have urged the court to throw out the appeals, saying the trio already previously exercised their right to a last-ditch appeal. The bombers’ appeals centre on the legality of the terrorism laws used to convict them. The terrorists’ lawyer Fahmi Bachmid argues the laws are unconstitutional because they were retroactive, and came into effect after the Bali bombings. The trio had originally been due to be executed in 2006. But their executions were halted after they applied for a judicial review of their cases. Their earlier request for a judicial review was rejected, and the men had faced imminent execution, until this latest challenge. (February 28th 2008, AAP)
Hunt for Accused Terrorist Escapee Spreads to Indonesia, Malaysia
Singapore tightened border security in the hunt for an accused terrorist still on the run Friday (29/2), while Indonesian and Malaysian authorities pledged cooperation. Armed Gurkhas were stationed at the Woodlands checkpoint into Malaysia. Immigration officers in bullet-proof vests manned the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to the nearest Indonesian islands. Thousands of police and soldiers have fanned out across Singapore in the manhunt for Mas Selamat Kastari, 41, who escaped Wednesday (27/2) from a detention centre where he was being held for allegedly planning to crash a hijacked plane into the city-state’s Changi Airport. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged his country’s fullest cooperation. Police chiefs in Malaysia said they had stepped up security, particularly in neighboring Johor. (March 1st 2008, AFP)
Police Arrest Six in Massive Drug Bust - Jakarta
Indonesian police have arrested five foreigners and one local suspected to be members of an international drug syndicate, seizing 600,000 ecstasy pills worth up to 6.4 million dollars, local media said Thursday (29/32). The five men, identified as Chen Hoa Yi, Tzu Chiang and Li Hao Yi of Taiwan, Siegfried Mets of the Netherlands, and Ong Tiong Yoh from Singapore, were apprehended in a raid on Wednesday in West Jakarta’s Mutiara business complex, Jakarta’s Kompas daily reported. In what was described as the largest haul of its kind, Jakarta city police chief Inspector General Adang Firman said six suitcases containing the approximately 600,000 ecstasy pills, were confiscated, along with three cars, seven cell phones and seven passports. Three other suspects - a Malaysian, a Dutch citizen and an Indonesian - escaped arrest and the police were pursuing them, Firman said, adding that police were also still interrogating the suspects to find out where the drugs came from. Senior Commissioner Arman Depari, the city police’s narcotics division, said the arrests were made after a string of investigations that began in December. (March 1st 2008, Antara News)
UK Prince to Visit Indonesia
Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom will visit Indonesia on March 2-6, according to Indonesian State Spokesman Dino Patti Djalal on Friday (29/2). The prince will visit Indonesia as a special envoy of the United Kingdom for the international trade and investment, according to the statement from the British embassy. During his visit, the prince will meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on March 5, the statement said, adding that he will also visit British Petroleum Company in Tangguh of Papua province in easternmost of Indonesia and meet with some ministers and representatives from the British companies in Indonesia. Prince Andrew is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Endinburgh, who is in charge of promoting investors to do investment in his country. (March 2nd 2008, Xinhua )
Australia to Finish Construction of 1,500 Houses in Aceh
The Australian government through the Australian Red Cross (ARC) has set a target of completing the development of 1,500 houses for tsunami victims in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province in November 2008. “We are now able to set a target because preparations for construction work are already ripe and running well,” Australian Red Cross chief delegate in Indonesia Bill Marsden said after handing over houses in Baitussalam sub-district, Aceh Besar district, here on Saturday (1/3). He said that the construction of the houses was slightly delayed due to technical constraints but as a whole work would be finished on schedule. The tsunami victims had been waiting for them for a long time. Of the 1,500 houses, about 50% have been built and have been turned over to the locals who suffered from the devastating tsunami which hit the province in December 2004.(March 1st 2009, Antara News)
Indonesian Father and Son Suspected of Bird Flu Infection
A nine-year-old boy and his father have been admitted to a hospital in Indonesia, suspected of having bird flu, a medic said Sunday (2/3). Both were admitted to the Dr. Muwardi general hospital in the Central Java city of Solo on Saturday showing all the symptoms of infection, Reviono, who heads the hospital’s bird flu unit, told AFP. He said the pair had buried chickens that had died after being infected with H5N1, while several chickens in their neighborhood had also tested positive for the disease. Both have been put in the hospital’s isolation ward and blood and tissue samples will be sent to the health ministry laboratory in Jakarta on Monday, he added. (March 2nd 2008, Antara News)
