Heru Andriyanto & Armando Siahaan – After surviving criticism from the public and lawmakers over his part in approving the Bank Century bailout, Vice President Boediono was accused on Thursday of helping channel Rp 147.7 trillion ($16.2 billion) in state funds to rescue banks during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The economy was plunged into further chaos when nearly all the money vanished.

Former Finance Minister Fuad Bawazier told the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday that Boediono, who served as a senior official at the central bank during the massive bailouts of 1997-98, must be held accountable.

"As the director of banking analysis at Bank Indonesia, Boediono was responsible for channeling the credit which later turned into bad loans and caused the banking crisis," Fuad said in a hearing held at the request of the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Society (Maki).

Fuad is now a key official in the opposition People's Conscience Party (Hanura), which was one of the six House of Representatives factions that voted that the Bank Century bailout in 2008 was illegal.

Fuad, who served under the Suharto regime, claimed he had strongly opposed the bailout policy in the 1990s because he believed the government should never bear the debts of the private sector.

Most of the bailout funds disappeared due to the absence of sufficient measures to verify if the recipients were capable of repaying, he said, citing an example of the huge sum injected to Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia, owned by tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, whom Faud claimed had a bad reputation.

"After the funds were injected, they were taken away by [Sjamsul] and as a result the credit turned into a debt the state had to shoulder," said Fuad.

Boediono was dismissed by President Suharto after the failure of the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) bailout program, Fuad claimed.

Maki chairman Boyamin Saiman said he filed the legal motion to link Boediono to the bailout disaster because the Attorney General's Office had never investigated the vice president over the matter.

"The then central bank governor [Soedradjad Djiwandono] was once named as a suspect for the case, so why wasn't Boediono?" Boyamin told reporters.

He argued that at the graft trial of former BI senior officials Hendrobudiyanto, Heru Supraptomo and Paul Soetopo, the indictment mentioned the alleged role by Boediono in the infamous bailout scandal. Maki is also seeking graft charges against former Bank Indonesia officials Haryono and Muklis Rasyid, Boyamin said.

The accusations come two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to examine the handling of the BLBI case because it could still cause further state losses.

Bank Indonesia extended BLBI funds to banks in dire need of liquidity problems during the monetary crisis in 1998. The rescue was based on an agreement between the state and the International Monetary Fund. In December 1998, the central bank extended Rp 147.7 trillion in BLBI funds to 48 banks.

The case broke following an audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) into the use of the BLBI funds, which indicated that Rp 138 trillion of the total disbursed had been misappropriated.

Maki has been critical of the vice president. It previously filed a motion to the same court seeking an order for the AGO to name Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as suspects in the Bank Century scandal, but the request was turned down.

It has also twice sued the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for "attempting to drop the Bank Century case." The South Jakarta District Court rejected both suits.

[Additional reporting from Antara.]

Claims of pig blood in cigarette filters coughs up controversy

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

Dessy Sagita – In a claim likely to cause consternation from Muslim smokers, a Dutch author has published a book that claims that pig blood is used to make cigarette filters.

Pig 05049, written by Christien Meindertsma, lists 185 different ways that pigs' body parts can be used, including in the manufacture of sweets, shampoo, bread, beer and bullets.

Pig hemoglobin is, according to the book, used to filter harmful chemicals in cigarettes.

The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) called on authorities to investigate the claims. "If the claim is true then the National Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Ulema Council's Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM) should immediately conduct a sampling test," Tulus Abadi, chairman of the YLKI, told the Jakarta Globe.

Tulus said that Indonesian cigarette producers were using imported filters because they are not produced locally.

If the claims are true, Tulus said, the government has a stronger case to take a stand against tobacco. "As the most populous Muslim country, we should be really careful, most smokers in Indonesia are Muslims. How would they feel if they found out that the cigarettes they smoke were made using pig hemoglobin?" he said.

MUI chairman Amidhan said that MUI would not comment on the matter and would not conduct any certification test unless there was a request from the cigarette industry or the importer.

"Smoking is offensive and for now that's our stance. However this information should be regarded as a warning for smokers to be more aware," he said.

Professor Simon Chapman from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney was quoted on the university's Web site as saying, "many devout Islamic and Jewish smokers and some vegetarians would be horrified to think they were putting a filter in their mouth which contained a pig product."

Video of smoking, swearing child horrifies Indonesia

Agence France Presse - April 1, 2010

Jakarta – A video posted on the Internet of a little boy smoking, swearing and making lewd sexual gestures has shocked Indonesia, reports said Thursday.

The short video appeared on YouTube over the weekend but was removed by the website on Wednesday for violating its terms of use, The Jakarta Globe daily reported.

It showed a boy aged about four puffing on a highly toxic clove cigarette, blowing smoke rings and swearing in an east Java dialect with the encouragement of adults, who can be heard laughing in the background.

Responding to questions from the adults, the child, called Sandy, said he wanted to be a thief when he grew up and spend his money on prostitutes.

Sitting on a tricycle, he also said his favourite thing in the world was "vaginas" and thrust his hips when asked to simulate intercourse.

Child protection officials told The Jakarta Globe that the video represented child abuse. The boy is believed to be from Malang, a town in east Java.

"There should be immediate psychological and medical treatment for the little boy as it will disturb his development. He cannot be like this," National Commission for Child Protection chairman Seto Mulyadi was quoted as saying.

Police were urged to launch an investigation into who posted the video.

Alcohol consumption in Indonesia

Global Post - April 1, 2010

Peter Gelling, Jakarta -- Despite the government's best efforts to curb the consumption of alcohol, the party here is as rollicking as ever.

Hundreds of bars and clubs, ranging from seedy backwaters hidden down narrow alleyways to spectacular high-end discos anchoring upscale malls and hotels, keep Indonesia's capital open for business all night long.

Wealthy youngsters pour in and out of dance halls well into the morning hours, often stumbling past destitute street-side market vendors and child beggars -- a dichotomy not unfamiliar in a city where the exceedingly rich live side by side with the exceedingly needy.

Some say that Jakarta, along with its tropical partner, Bali, has the best nightlife anywhere in Southeast Asia these days -- drawing weekend warriors from neighboring counties and beyond.

It's an incongruous reputation when placed next to its other moniker: the world's largest Muslim-majority country. And that dissonance between thrashing techno beats and hallowed prayer calls is also playing out among government regulators.

Ever wary of a large Muslim population that largely views drinking alcohol as a sin, the Indonesian government maintains numerous restrictions on the importation and distribution of alcohol -- constraints that have at times throttled the country's tourist industry and given birth to a deadly black market alcohol trade.

In most corners of Indonesia, home-made concoctions are available at roadside shops for cheap but remain unregulated or even monitored by government agencies. Hundreds of Indonesians, and some foreigners, die every year from drinking the sometimes poisonous brews.

"The government seems to be totally blind to this issue," said Teguh Yudo, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Affairs in Jakarta. "Its whole focus is on regulating the legal importation and production. But there are all these local alcoholic drinks the government is ignoring."

In February, police arrested five people for peddling methanol- laced alcohol that killed 16 on the island of Java. In May of last year, 23 people were killed in Bali after unknowingly drinking similar illicit alcohol. Several foreigners were among those killed, including at least one American.

The victims were all drinking local palm or rice wine mixtures known as Arak in which the brew's maker had used methanol. Methanol is deadly in even small doses but is commonly used in home brews here because high tariffs make ethanol -- the traditional alcoholic ingredient -- so expensive.

On top of a 150 percent levy on imported spirits and wine, there are value-added taxes, an excise tax calculated by the alcohol content and regional government levies, according to the Finance Ministry.

There is currently only one company, state-owned, with government permits to import alcohol and in 1990 the government banned altogether the establishment of any new alcohol-producing enterprises domestically. The trade ministry decided earlier this month to give more permits for companies to import alcohol, but the eight that applied are still waiting approval.

Last year, hotels and restaurants suffered through a severe alcohol shortage when customs officials, suspicious that P.T. Sarinah, the state-owned alcohol importer, had undervalued its shipments, confiscated more than 30 shipping containers full of bottles just before the winter holiday season. For months, signs in bars and clubs throughout Bali and Jakarta apologized to customers for the lack of available alcohol.

All of this has partygoers and tourist industry leaders in a huff. "We are concerned not just for the big five star hotels, but for the hundreds of small restaurants as well," said Noviar Amir, executive director for the Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Bali. "Bali, which draws the most tourists, is the face of Indonesia. We have to service not just locals, but foreigners as well. So when these regulations make it difficult to find affordable alcohol, it can be a problem."

Several analysts said the various tariffs can create a near 500 percent increase in the cost of alcohol, far higher than Malaysia, which is also a predominantly Muslim country. Much of this cost is passed on to the consumer, making the price of a beer in a country famous for its affordability not unlike that in the West.

The industry breathed a momentary sigh of relief when Finance Minister Sri Mulyani announced she would scrap an expensive luxury sales tax on April 1. The celebration, however, was short-lived. Weeks later she announced a dramatic increase in the excise tax.

"So the price will stay more or less the same," said Yudo. "I think the government has chosen to set the tax at a rate that is safe for public opinion, and right now the public in most of Indonesia regards alcohol as dangerous."

Actions, demos, protests...

Five protests expected in capital

Jakarta Globe - April 5, 2010

Five demonstrations of unknown size are scheduled for Monday, adding to already congested roads following the long weekend.

According to the Traffic Management Center's Web site, the first demonstration listed will take place outside the House of Representatives on Jalan Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The site did not list who would be protesting.

At the same time, rallies will be held at the state insurance company PT Jamsostek headquarters and at the Directorate General of Taxation, both on Jalan Gatot Subroto.

Demonstrations are also expected at the Ministry of Transportation on Jalan Merdeka Barta in Central Jakarta and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Jalan Rasuna Said from 10 a.m to 1 p.m.

Aceh

Rough justice with accused Aceh adulterers deplored as un-Islamic

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A human rights activist on Thursday slammed the humiliating punishment meted out to a teacher in Aceh Barat and the married woman he was suspected of having an affair with after the pair were marched through a village naked, tied to a pole and then brutally beaten.

"To parade people around naked is not sanctioned in Islam," said Zulfikar Muhammad, an activist from a coalition of human rights organizations in the staunchly Muslim province.

"The acts of the villagers who paraded the two through a village clearly violates both Islamic Shariah law and human rights. Islam upholds justice and the rights of human beings."

Zulfikar's statement comes after T Abdurrazak, operational commander of Aceh's feared Shariah Police, confirmed on Thursday that the teacher, identified as Bus, 36, and was reportedly from an Islamic boarding school in Aceh Besar, had been caught in the bedroom of Yus, a 28-year-old housewife, in Seuneubok village, Meulaboh district, on Wednesday. The case is being dealt with by Aceh Barat Police.

Villagers had suspected for at least a year that the couple were having an affair, Abdurrazak said, adding that Yus's husband was seldom at home because his job required him to travel out of town extensively.

He said villagers claimed they had often seen Bus enter through the back door of the house at night whenever the husband was out.

Abdurrazak said the villagers had decided to catch the couple in the act and at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, they broke down the door and allegedly found the pair in the bedroom. Abdurrazak, however, said he did not know whether the couple had actually been caught in in the act of committing adultery.

"Even though the Shariah Police has every right to investigate this violation, we do not have investigators as yet," he said. "We are therefore working in collaboration with local Aceh Barat Police to process the case."

According to a local Shariah regulation, adulterers face a maximum punishment of being publicly caned nine times.

"If the Qanun Jinayat had been signed by Aceh's governor, the couple could have faced stoning to death," Abdurrazak added, referring to the controversial set of local bylaws passed in September by the province's legislative council to replace parts of the Criminal Code. Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf refused to sign off on the new code citing humanitarian grounds.

Abdurrazak said the pair were marched naked through the village and then both tied to a pole and beaten. After the police arrived to rescue the couple, they were rushed to the Cut Nyak Dhien General Hospital in the district capital of Meulaboh for emergency treatment, he added.

Quake leaves billions in damages for Aceh's weary residents

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Nurdin Hasan & Nurfika Osman, Banda Aceh – A day after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake shook Sumatra Island, Aceh is starting to count the costs.

Though no one was killed in Wednesday's quake, the strongest since the temblor that triggered the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed as many as 170,000 people in the region, districts are reporting billions of rupiah in damages.

Hundreds of houses, mosques and other buildings in four villages in Aceh Singkil district, located about 500 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, reportedly sank by at least a meter.

Sukri Murni, secretary of the district's disaster mitigation unit, said the villages of Ujong Bawang, Suka Damai, Kilangan and Ujung had been affected by the land subsidence, although no one was required to evacuate their homes.

He said the land subsidence had also damaged roads across the district. Two mosques and three schools suffered serious damage and could no longer be used. Sukri estimated damages in the area would amount to about Rp 6.3 billion ($695,000).

"We hope the provincial and central governments can help us financially to fix public facilities, especially the roads, schools and houses affected by the quake," he said.

Zul Mufti, head of Simeulue district's social affairs agency, said the island had suffered about Rp 52 billion in damages.

"That is our temporary estimate of the damages caused to houses, buildings and other facilities," he said.

Simeulue Island was one of the areas closest to the epicenter of Wednesday's earthquake and reported a significant number of injuries, with at least 22 people being taken to local hospitals.

More than 20 community health clinics and 15 schools were completely destroyed, Zul said. Among the most seriously damaged buildings on the island were two government offices rebuilt by the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) after the 2004 tsunami.

Zul said residents affected by the quake had already received food and medical supplies. Aceh's government also provided Rp 100 million in aid.

Asep Karsidi, from the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare, told the Jakarta Globe that the ministry would allocate Rp 500 million in relief funds to help the victims of the disaster.

He added that an emergency rapid response team from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) would be in the worst-affected areas for the next week to assess the damage and coordinate with the ministry in aid distribution.

Wednesday's quake struck off the northwest coast of Sumatra at 5:15 a.m. at a depth of 46 kilometers, according to a report from the US Geological Survey.

The epicenter was reported to be 60 km southeast of Sinabang, Simeulue. At least 15 aftershocks were felt on Wednesday.

According to Badrul Kamal, a geophysicist from Andalas University in Padang, the quake was the result of movement in the 700-km- long "Mentawai patch," which in 2007 caused quakes measuring 8.4 and 7.8 in magnitude.

Late last year, geologists warned that a massive undersea quake beneath the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra was long overdue.

Religious official badly beaten for adultery

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

An official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Aceh Barat and the married woman he was caught having intercourse with were paraded naked through a village, tied to a pole and brutally beaten, it was reported on Thursday.

The married ministry official, identified as Bus, 36, was caught in the bedroom of Yus, a 28-year-old housewife, in Seuneubok village, Meulaboh district on Wednesday night.

According to Kompas.com, villagers had suspected for at least a year that the couple were having an illicit affair.

Locals said that Yus's husband was seldom home because his job required him to travel out of town extensively and they would often see Bus enter through the back door of the house at night whenever the husband was out.

The villagers agreed to catch the couple in the act and on Wednesday night after Bus believed he had secretly snuck into the house via his usual entrance, locals broke through the door and discovered the pair in bed.

Still naked, the pair were marched through the village to a security post where they were tied to a pole, where Bus was beaten till he became unconscious and had to be rushed to the intensive care unit of the Cut Nyak Dhien General Hospital in Meulaboh. His condition is unknown.

Yus was taken to Aceh Barat Police headquarters for further questioning. Villagers believed the amorous couple had smeared the good name of their village.

T Salahuddin, the head of the Public Order Office in Aceh Barat, confirmed the incident, saying the couple had violated the Criminal Code on adultery and the offense was punishable by public caning.

Major quake hits Aceh

Jakarta Globe - April 7, 2010

Nurdin Hassan and AFP, Banda Aceh – A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Sumatra island early Wednesday, injuring at least four people, one of them critically, in Simeulue district, Aceh province.

A tsunami alert was issued in the province and in Thailand, though both were cancelled.

There are initial reports of widespread panic as locals on Simeulue Island fled to higher ground. Damage has occurred to a number of government buildings.

The quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometers off the northwest coast of Sumatra at 5:15 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.

Indonesian geologists said it had a magnitude of 7.2 and the epicenter was 60 kilometers southeast of Sinabang, on Simeulue Island, Aceh province, which was devastated by a massive quake and tsunami in 2004.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a watch for tsunamis in Sumatra but said a destructive ocean surge was not expected.

Electricity was down in the Acehnese capital of Banda Aceh but mobile phones were working. Residents of Banda Aceh said they felt the earth shaking powerfully for about a minute and many fled their homes or piled onto motorcycles to head inland in fear of a destructive tsunami.

"People panicked and ran out of the house, it lasted almost a minute," a Jakarta Globe reporter in Banda Aceh said. "I saw a lot of people who live close to the sea using motorcycles to drive inland."

Indonesia was the nation hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami, with at least 168,000 people killed when the sea surged over the northern tip of Sumatra after a 9.3-magnitude quake split the seabed to the island's west.

A 7.6-magnitude quake killed about 1,000 people in the port of Padang, western Sumatra, in September last year.

West Papua

BIN and Kopassus create alternative Biaki Council

BiakNews - April 7, 2010

Biak Traditional Council under threat as BIN and Kopassus move to set up an alternative traditional council.

On 7 April, three Indonesian agencies, BIN (State Intelligence Agency), Korem (Regional Military Command) and Kopassus (elite military command) brought together several traditional groups in East Bi ak to explain their intention to set up an East Biak Traditional Council. Those who were invited were provided with special transport, a blue vehicle with Oklahama registration no DS 7081 C, which took them to meet BIN, Korem and Kopassus Post VIII in Karang Mulia Biak District, Papua.

During the meeting, several documents were circulated, including:

- A fax from the Minister of the Interior dated 2 February 2010 regarding Interior Department Regulation No 3, 1997 on the Empowerment, Lasting Values and Institutions of Traditional Communities in the Regions.

- Decision adopted by the Governor/Head of Irian Jaya No 77, 1998 on the Establishment of a Traditional Community and Appointment of a Guidance Council for the Traditional Communities of Irian Jaya Province, for 1998-2002.

The meeting commenced at 10am and ended at 1pm and was held at Kopassus Post 08, Jalan Raya Bosnik Karang Mulia, Biak Papua.

Following the meeting, several members of the Biak Traditional Council endeavoured to find out more about the agenda of the meeting but this proved impossible because BIN and Kopassus had held the meeting in private and closed to the public.

At 1pm, as five persons who had been invited to the meeting were leaving the location and intending to return home, a member of the traditional council was able to take a photo of one of the invited persons who had got hold of the documents mentioned above. Several of those who participated in the meeting have been identified by their initials: DR, BY, MT, YR, and YU.

All well-meaning East Biaki people, the Suprimanggun people, are warned against these activities which are intended to undermine the State and our future generations. There will be further investigations in to those involved in the aforesaid meeting, the results of which will be made public.

A meeting is scheduled to be held on 22 April 2010 to facilitate a gathering of 32 kampungs in East Biak and Oridek at which the establishment of a traditional people's council in East Biak will be announced.

Responding to the moves to set up such a traditional council, a lawyer named Metuzalak Awom said that in his opinion the people who organised such a meeting have lost their sense of dignity and identity. A Biak Traditional Council which represents the Biaki people already exists. Why are they seeking to set up a new traditional council?

The people who took this initiative were from BIN and Kopassus, coming from outside the region, newcomers, not Biaki people. They lack any understanding of the local culture and their aim is to incite conflict within the community. This is an act of discrimination against the Biaki people and we therefore call upon all official bodies, NGOs, religious leaders, traditional leaders, women's leaders and people from the universities who wish to uphold democracy and humnitarianism to serve the interests of the people in this region and not to play any role in setting up an alternative traditional council which can only trigger conflict.

Awom also stressed that the 1997 Interior Department regulation should be correctly interpreted. Properly understood, the ministerial emphasis was on 'empowerment', 'engagement' and 'development', not on setting anything up. According to Biaki community tradition, the aim is to create the space and regulations for the communities to strengthen themselves, both with regard to personal capacity and community management, in order to be able to play their role in empowerment, engagement and development.

According to the role of the traditional councils as stipulated in the Special Autonomy Law for the Province of Papua, they should be facilitated to make their own contribution. As things stand at present, women are the only ones who have been able to play an effective role while the religious and traditional communities have only drafted proposals which in most cases have not met with any response.

So what then can be the aim of setting up this alternative traditional council? The rights of the traditional communities are already clear so why does anyone want to set up an alternative?

[Slightly abridged in translation by Tapol.]

Papua food drive sparks fears over forests

Melbourne Age - April 3, 2010

Tom Allard – Indonesia's government plans to create a vast agricultural estate in the restive province of West Papua, sparking fears of environmental destruction and a return of mass migration policies that have antagonised the indigenous population.

Launched last month and already piquing the interest of foreign investors, the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) will initially earmark 1.6 million hectares of land for development but could expand to 2.5 million hectares, or about half the area of Merauke district in south-east Papua.

The proposal marks a return to the massive agricultural developments promoted by former dictator Suharto. Some of these were spectacular failures, such as the 1 million-hectare "mega rice" project in central Kalimantan that devastated peatland forests and did not produce a bushel of rice.

But Indonesian officials insist the land around Merauke is suitable for agriculture and that the new estate will help Indonesia become self-sufficient in food within five years, and later earn it valuable export income.

"Feed Indonesia, then feed the world," was the catchcry of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last month when the plan was announced.

Rice, corn, sugar cane, soya bean, grazing land for livestock and palm oil plantations are planned for Merauke district, which encompasses large tracts of virgin rainforest, including swamp forests that are ecologically fragile and contain stores of peat, which absorbs large amounts of carbon.

The project will require about $6 billion of investment, up to 49 per cent of it coming from foreign investors such as Saudi Arabia's Bin Laden Group, the conglomerate run by the family of the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who they have long disowned and condemned.

It is expected to swell the population of Merauke from 175,000 to 800,000, according to agricultural ministry officials.

"We have two concerns," said Father Decky Ogi, the director of the Justice and Peace Secretariat of the Merauke Diocese of the Catholic Church. "The first is ecological and the second is about what happens to the indigenous people."

Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Hatta Rajasa, has insisted that scrubland or areas already logged will be converted to farmland. But using satellite images and data from Indonesia's government agencies, the non-government organisation Greenomics has found that more than two-thirds of the land needed for the MIFEE will have to come from felling virgin forests.

"There are 500,000 hectares of unforested land that can potentially be used in Merauke," said Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi. "Those areas are... scattered everywhere. Foreign investors will not be interested in using small, separated landholdings. In any case, if they want to use the maximum area designated for the food estate, they will have to cut down 2 million hectares of forest."

Indonesian environmental group Wahli warned large-scale land conversion would degrade water catchment areas and "could result in a faster intrusion of sea water to the land".

Father Ogi said Merauke's Melanesian indigenous population was anxious about the plan. They feared land traditionally used by them would by taken, and were apprehensive about a likely influx of workers from other parts of Indonesia.

In the early 1970s, the Suharto dictatorship started a massive program of internal migration, known as "transmigrasi", subsidising people from Java, Sulawesi and other regions to move to Papua.

The policy followed the annexation of Papua by Jakarta in 1969. At that time, 96 per cent of Papua's residents were Melanesian. At the last census in 2000, indigenous Papuans represented less than 70 per cent of the population, a figure thought to have plummeted since.

The non-indigenous population of Papua dominates formal employment and business, creating tensions among the Melanesian population and fuelling separatist sentiments.

"The transmigrasi policy has been stopped [in 2000] but its impact is still going on," said Father Ogi. "Indigenous people are marginalised... If the MIFEE is implemented, I think indigenous people will be more marginalised than they are now." Even so, the proposed agricultural estate has won the strong support of the local government and the qualified backing of the Governor of Papua, Barnabas Suebu.

Minister Hatta backs much-debated food estate

Jakarta Post - April 3, 2010

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta has thrown his weight behind a plan to set up a food estate in Merauke, Papua province, a plan many environmental groups see as a setback.

Gusti said the project should first develop 366,612 hectares of ailing forested land of while waiting for assessments on the planned 1.6 million hectares.

"The food estate projects should be implemented in steps without victimizing primary forests in Merauke," Gusti said.

He made the statement after Greenomics Indonesia had a meeting with Gusti and other senior staff about the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) on Thursday.

Gusti also cautioned that the massive 1 million hectare forest conversion for agriculture in Central Kalimantan province under Soeharto administration was not to be repeated.

The deputy minister for environmental damage control at the Environment Ministry, Masnellyarti Hilman said the ministry was working on a proposal that the environmental impact analysis for the MIFEE project should be made by the central government.

She insisted that Merauke administration should first assess its environmental condition to determine whether the province could accommodate such big projects.

The 2009 Environmental Law requires local authorities to run strategic environmental assessments to identify capability of environment to accommodate the projects.

The impact analysis will be issued based on the findings of the strategic assessment. The law says the project developers should first secure an environmental permit from the Environment Ministry before applying for business permits.

The MIFEE project was under the Agriculture Ministry's program that aimed to boost food production. A number of big companies, including from energy sector will reportedly take part in the project.

The Agriculture Ministry has not yet secured licenses from the Forestry Ministry to convert the forest. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan previously said he would issue a permit to convert the virgin forest for food estate projects.

Greenomics Indonesia agreed that priority should be given to the primary 366,612 hectares, with permission from the Forestry Ministry.

"If there is progress, the project could be expanded to another 139,333 hectares of ailing production forest but permits should be [obtained] from the House of Representatives," Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said.

He said that the total natural forest which could be converted for MIFEE projects was only 505,945 hectares.

Greenomics said that if the government continued its plan to dig 1.6 million hectares in Merauke, some 1.1 million hectares would be from the conversion of natural forests, which would be against the government's pledge to protect forests to cut emissions.

"Minister Gusti must continue comparing the impacts of massive forest conversion for food estates to the government's pledge to cut 26 percent emissions by 2020," he said.

He said that the ministry should apply the 2009 law as instrument to control the project through the impact analysis and environmental permits.

Four men in Papua court for raising banned flag

Radio New Zealand International - April 1, 2010

Reports from the Indonesian province of Papua say four men have gone on trial in Jayapura in connection with an event last May when the banned Morning Star separatist flag was unfurled.

According to the Bintang Papua newspaper, the incident, which the Indonesian authorities regard as an act of rebellion punishable with jail time, happened at Kapeso airfield.

Their lawyer says the charges are based on the testimony of a man claiming to have seen the four run away. However, other witnesses say they were not present.

The defence has told the court there was no convincing evidence against the four and therefore they should be acquitted.

Human rights/law

Commission optimistic court will revise juvenile court law

Jakarta Post - April 8, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Experts argued that the minimum criminal prosecution age of eight years is too young and must be amended, during a judicial review of the controversial juvenile court law at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

"Children who commit crimes should not be automatically charged under the Criminal Code," Surastini, a law lecturer from the University of the Indonesia, told the court.

She said that under the existing juvenile court law, eight-to 18-year-olds could be convicted of crime and sent to juvenile detention centers.

"The minimum age regulation in the law, which is eight years old, is too low. People of that age are growing and prone to mental disturbances. They need protection," Surastini said. Serious legal charges handed down to children of that age could have a lasting effect on their future, she added.

In December last year, the National Commission for Child Protection filed a judicial review to amend the minimum age. The 1997 law stipulates that the Criminal Code applies to anyone above the age of eight.

The commission, citing a world convention on children's rights, said that a child was anyone below 15 years old.

The petitioners also demanded Article 31 of the 1997 law, which regulates the establishment of special detention centers for children, be scrapped. "It is a violation of a child's constitutional right to be detained without legal cause," Masnah said, head of the commission, said.

The juvenile court system has been under fire recently following several cases that have seen children tried in court for minor offenses. The House of Representatives is currently formulating a bill to replace the law.

The expert testimonies at the court encouraged optimism among the petitioners. Masnah Sari, said Wednesday she was optimistic the court would approve their petition.

"Developments during the hearing so far have convinced me that what we requested is right. Most of the experts, both from our side and from the government, presented opinions before the panel of nine judges that the article on the minimum age to face legal charges must be revised," she told The Jakarta Post.

Last month, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono proposed the creation of a special decree on child offenders that would grant a presidential pardon to 42 juvenile inmates in the country.

Indonesian army officers in firing line over attack on four boys

Jakarta Globe - April 6, 2010

Nurfika Osman – The National Commission for Child Protection on Tuesday condemned the alleged beating of four minors by Army soldiers.

"It is not only against children's rights, but also is against human rights as [the soldiers] are state officials and have an obligation to protect the country," Arist Merdeka Sirait, the secretary general of the commission, known as Komnas Anak, told the Jakarta Globe. "It is very saddening and it is a gross violation of human rights."

Arist said the five Army soldiers involved in the alleged beating had been detained by the Military Police.

He said the four boys, the oldest among them 14 years old, were traumatized by the incident. "However, they went back to school on Monday after we treated them," he said.

The alleged beating took place in Cilodong, Depok, two weeks ago. Arist said the four boys were physically assaulted by five members of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) at night while they were returning to their homes after playing video games.

"They stopped the children and forced them to admit to things that they had not done. They also hit the children with clubs and forced them to undress," he said.

Arist said the boys were forced to admit that they had been stealing bicycles in a housing complex in Cilodong. He said there had been an incident of a bicycle being stolen in the complex.

"Even if the children stole the bicycle, it does not mean that it should have been settled that way," he said, adding that the children had not been involved in any thefts.

Arist said it was unfortunate that the soldiers, because of their status as servicemen, could not be charged with violating the Law on Child Protection regarding assault, which carries a minimum prison sentence of five years.

The servicemen will instead be dealt with by a military tribunal, where they could get off with a lesser sanction. "However, the Military Police have promised to take this case seriously as the servicemen have admitted to their offense," Arist said.

He said the case would go before a military tribunal after the soldiers had been held for 20 days pending the preparation of their case files.

Rights victims file suit against Sjamsoeddin's appointment

Kompas - April 6, 2010

Jakarta – On Monday April 5 the victims and families of victims of the abduction and forced disappearance of activists in 1997- 1998, Semanggi I and II and Trisakti filed a suit with the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) against the President of the Republic of Indonesia over the president's decision to promote Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as deputy defense minister.

The victims, namely Karsiah, Yati Ruyati, Mugiyanto, Tuti Koto and Nurhasanah, have appointed the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) as their legal attorney. They are asking the PTUN to annul, declare invalid or revoke a part of Presidential Decree Number 3/P/2010 on the Appointment of Deputy Ministers.

The president appointed three deputy ministers, namely Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Deputy Minister for National Development Planning Lukita Dinarsyah Tuo and Deputy Education Minister Fasli Djalal, at the State Palace on January 6, 2010. At the time, Sjamsoeddin's appointment attracted protests.

Legal violation

There are two grounds for the suit according to Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid. The first is that the presidential decree violates the law because it appointed Sjamsoeddin – who is still an active Indonesian military (TNI) officer – to a civilian and political post. "This shows that that President Yudhoyono has no commitment to implementing civil supremacy," said Hamid.

The second reason is that based on input from the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Sjamsoeddin should be examined by an ad hoc human rights court for human rights violations. The results of Komnas HAM's investigation clearly states that Sjamsoeddin is in part responsible for the abduction of 13 activists who disappeared in 1997-1998, the Trisakti shootings in 1998 and the Semanggi shootings in 1998 and 1999.

Although Sjamsoeddin has never been properly questioned as either a witness or suspect, according to Hamid, this is because the Attorney General's Office has failed to move on the case, yet Komnas HAM has clearly stated that Sjamsoeddin was involved. "Both as a TNI operational commander as well as Jakarta military commander," said Hamid.

Political

Commenting on the case, Defence Ministry Public Relations Bureau Chief Wayan Midhio said the human rights issue is long past and has been proven to be valid. The reason being that Sjamsoeddin has never been examined as a witness, let alone a suspect. Midhio believes that the demands are largely political in nature. (EDN)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Rights abuses Victims challenge Sjafrie's appointment

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Relatives of rights abuse victims have protested a presidential decree appointing Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as deputy defense minister.

The group filed suit against the decree Monday at the Jakarta State Administrative Court. The survivors and families of human rights violations from the 1998 riots and the 1997/1998 kidnapping of student and political activists want the decree annulled.

Sjafrie was the Jakarta Military commander at the time, during which rioters targeted Chinese-Indonesian businesses and raped Chinese-Indonesian women in Jakarta and other cities across the country.

Thirteen student and political activists who went missing in the final years of Soeharto's rule, widely believed to have been abducted by the military, remain unaccounted for.

A slew of human rights groups have accused Sjafrie of rights abuses during the 1998 riots, as well as during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor. He has never been brought before a court or tribunal to answer any of the accusations.

The plaintiffs filing suit Monday were represented by several rights groups, including the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and the Setara Institute. Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid told The Jakarta Post that Sjafrie's appointment as deputy defense minister "could hamper future attempts to investigate his role in alleged rights violations".

"Even when he was still a military commander he ignored a subpoena from the National Commission on Human Rights, so imagine how much more impunity this new position will afford him," he said.

A rights commission team tasked with investigating the May 1998 riots summoned several military generals, including Sjafrie, former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and former Army Strategic Reserves Command chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, for questioning in July 2003. None of them showed up.

The team's report highlighted the gravity of the rights violations during the riots and "indicated that the military leadership was responsible for those incidents, including Wiranto, Prabowo, Sjafrie and others", said Abdul Hakim, the commission chairman at the time.

Wiranto and Prabowo have since gone into politics, both launching bids for vice president last year, which ultimately failed. Wiranto set up his own political party, the People's Conscience Party, or Hanura, while Prabowo fronts the Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra.

Setara Institute executive director Hendardi lambasted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for not taking Sjafrie's controversial track record into consideration when choosing to name him the deputy defense minister. He added Sjafrie's appointment was illegal under the 2004 Indonesian Military Law, which prohibits serving officers from taking up political positions.

Yudhoyono swore in Sjafrie as deputy defense minister on Jan. 6, hours after he signed off on the decree for the appointment.

"We didn't do anything at the time because we expected the President to issue a decree on the formation of an ad hoc human rights court... after the House of Representatives recommended it back in September last year," Usman said. "If such a decree is issued, there would have to be an investigation into the 1998 riots, and Sjafrie could be named a suspect."

The decree has not panned out. "The deadline to contest Sjafrie's appointment is drawing close, so we must act now," Usman said.

The House pledged to seek a resolution to the 1998 riots and the killing of student activists in 1997 and 1998.

Farmers to report 'shooting incident'

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2010

Jon Afrizal, Jambi – Farmers in Teluk Rendah, Tebo Ilir district in Tebo regency, Jambi, have planned to report a shooting incident to the National Police after a clash with the Mobile Brigade Unit personnel.

"We have decided to report the incident to the National Police," Muara Ketalo Farming Community leader Razali confirmed in Tebo Ilir.

During the incident, a farmer named Matori, a resident in Pasar Teluk Rendah, allegedly suffered a gunshot.

Based on the farmers' accounts, the clash occurred at PT Tunjuk Langit Sejahtera (TLS) in Teluk Rendah village when police personnel stopped five of their trucks carrying oil palm crops.

The personnel stopped the trucks, as they did not possess the necessary documents permitting them to sell the crops outside the working area.

The farmers, however, said they could, based on a decision by the Jambi provincial legislative council. The legislative rules, they say, stipulate the farmers can sell their crops to other parties besides PT TLS with the approval from the local village chief.

The farmers claimed they were equipped with the permit, but the police personnel reportedly threatened them with firearms.

Upon hearing about the holdup, it was said other farmers in the area rallied to show their support.

Hundreds of farmers gathered in front of the inspection post at Simpang, Teluk Rendah. They later pelted rocks and sticks at around 17 police personnel, which triggered the clash.

"The brigade members shot at us several times, harming one of us," said Razali.

Jambi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Alamsyah denied shooting directly at the farmers. "We only fired warning shots into the air," he said.

According to the police, the warning shots pacified the situation. Alamsyah said there were no casualties on both sides during the incident.

After a meeting between community figures and the Tebo Ilir district chief, they reached an agreement to hold a meeting between the provincial legislature and PT TLS.

"At this point in time, residents will not sell their crops outside the boundaries and they said they would accept the outcome of the meeting," Alamsyah said.

The police seized dossiers in the form of rocks, a molotov cocktail, a plastic bottle filled with rubber acid and 17 motorcycles. "The case is currently under control," Alamsyah said.

In response to the report, the farmers planned to lodge complaints to the National Police, which Alamsyah considered as normal and legal. "It is their right. But certainly, based on Tebo Police reports, no resident was shot," he said.

Meanwhile, based on a statement from Sungai Bengkal Community health clinic head Andre, farmer Matori sustained a bruise on his left arm, an abrasion and swelling. However, when asked about its cause, he could not determine whether the wound was due to a gunshot.

"It's possible," he added. "It looks like a wound from a rubber bullet." He said the victim did not undergo in-patient treatment at the clinic and returned home immediately. "The wound is not too serious," he said.

Four Army officers arrested for beating up kids

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2010

Jakarta – Military Police have arrested four officers from the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) over accusations that they had physically abused four minors last week.

The arrests were made following last Thursday's questioning of the officers, in which they were confirmed to be involved in the case, Kostrad spokesman Lt. Col. Husni said Monday. "[The officers] admitted to the offense," he said.

He added they would be placed in detention for up to 20 days, pending the preparation of their dossiers, before going before a military tribunal.

Last week, the National Commission for Child Protection filed a report with the Military Police alleging that several Kostrad officers in Cilodong, Depok, had assaulted four children accused of stealing a bicycle.

In its report, the commission alleged the officers had dragged the children along a road and beaten them in the face and torso in front of their parents.

In its follow-up to the report, the Military Police questioned the alleged victims, their parents and also the officers.

The four children also underwent a medical examination at a hospital.

Child protection commission secretary-general Arist Merdeka Sirait called the case "a huge violation of human rights", adding he hoped the tribunal would provide justice for the children and their families.

Servicemen cannot be charged under the criminal code, and critics say this has allowed for gross miscarriages of justice in the past. Husni, however, said the military was treating this case very seriously.

He added even though an amicable settlement had been sought, the case would still go to a tribunal. Critics say the accused officers will likely get off with light punishment, with a dishonorable discharge not in the cards.

Under the Criminal Code, applicable to civilians, an assault conviction carries a minimum prison sentence of five years.

Arist said the four children, who were severely traumatized, have gone back to school as of Monday.

Analysts say the case highlights both the problem of jurisdiction vis-a-vis servicemen, and the culture of violence against children.

The traditional view among many parents is that some measure of violence is justified to instill a sense of discipline in children.

The Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry last month launched a national action plan to address the issue. The ministry blames the culture of violence on poor public awareness, poverty and overpopulation.

The action plan will draw in other concerned parties, including government agencies, NGOs, the public and the media.

AICHR chided over failure to establish working guidelines

Jakarta Globe - April 4, 2010

Ismira Lutfia – Human rights activists on Sunday criticized last week's inaugural meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' human rights body in Jakarta for failing to produce a draft of organizational procedures that would determine its operations – and whether the commission would have any real clout.

Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), said over the weekend that there was not enough time to cover all the scheduled agenda items during the body's three-and-a-half-day meeting.

He said the AICHR's procedures and working plan were discussed, although they were not finalized because "we had to do a lot of adjustments."

The AICHR was inaugurated with great fanfare in Thailand last October. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called it "a significant milestone" because it was the first human rights watchdog in Asean's 42-year history.

The majority of Asean's 10 member nations still lack many basic human rights protections. Burma, for example, is a human rights pariah, while other nations lack a free press or important political rights.

Activists criticized the AICHR at the time of its founding as toothless because it focused on promoting, rather than protecting, human rights and lacked authority to impose punishments for rights violations.

Papang Hidayat, the head of research at Indonesia's Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the AICHR's failure to draft its organizational procedures "gives the impression that some Asean member countries that have serious records on human rights violations are trying to delay the process."

He said the failure to draft the procedures, which could have been copied from other international human rights bodies, demonstrated that the AICHR was "not serious."

He added that it could be "very difficult for a rights body to reach a consensus in a regional bloc whose member states have very bad records on human rights."

Atnike Nova Sigiro, a human rights campaigner with the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), told the Jakarta Globe that the meeting should have resulted in a mechanism for protecting human rights in the region.

"They could have at least done that, since they could not come up with a mechanism for [human rights abuse] settlement," she said.

Atnike added that the mechanism would be significant to guarantee human rights protection for refugees and migrant workers, for example, and to promote freedom of expression and other civil and political rights in Southeast Asia.

She said she also regretted that the rights body ended its meeting without communicating its results to the public, other than a three-paragraph statement.

"The AICHR could have garnered more support if its meeting results were made available to the public," Atnike said.

Rafendi said the rights body has formed a task force that will come up with an initial draft by the end of April.

Labour/migrant workers

Outraged workers rest hopes in SBY

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2010

Bandung – Six former hotel employees who were fired from their jobs two years ago marched from Bandung to Jakarta on Monday to appeal for support from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The two-year-old employment saga began when nine employees of Hotel Grand Aquila Bandung were fired a day after they submitted a letter to the hotel management declaring they had established a labor union.

The hotel management then proceeded to fire a further 137 employees who claimed to be members of the union.

"Even Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar can do nothing. They are convinced the President will be able to give them a solution," Sopandi, a former employee, said.

Migrant workers' sent home big bucks in 09

Jakarta Post - April 3, 2010

Cilacap, Central Java – The amount of cash sent back home by Indonesian migrant workers to families in Cilacap regency last year reached Rp 372 billion – almost one-third of the administration's annual budget of around Rp 1 trillion this year.

Cilacap manpower office secretary Aris Munandar said at present up to 50,000 Cilacap residents were working abroad. They mostly work in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Middle East, he said.

"They send home quite a lot of money," he said Thursday. The amount had peaked in the past four years, Aris said, from Rp 271 billion in 2007 to Rp 324 billion in 2008.

The increase was in line with an increasing number of Cilacap residents going abroad for work, which he estimated had increased by up to 10,000 new workers each year.

Environment/natural disasters

SBY orders taskforce to tackle illegal logging

Jakarta Post - April 8, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – For the second time this week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed concern over illegal logging, ordering the presidential taskforce to probe the practice, which is among the causes of deforestation.

The President said here Wednesday that he believed the practice remained rampant despite efforts because of the role of judicial mafia in the forestry sector.

"The Anti Judiciary Mafia Taskforce must reach out to the sector so that we can control, process and reduce forestry crimes significantly, if not end them outright," the President told a press conference in Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport before his departure to Hanoi, Vietnam, for the 16th ASEAN Summit.

"I hereby underline the importance of preserving our forests, which applies to all of Indonesia's provinces and law enforcement institutions, continue measures to eradicate illegal logging," he added.

The taskforce is a special team that was set up early January to tackle "big fish" cases involving corruption in the country's judicial system.

Within two months of operation it has managed to expose two major cases; namely the luxurious treatment given to certain inmates in the country's penitentiaries, which led to the government's prison reform plan, and, most recently, alleged graft in the tax office involving officials from the National Police and Attorney General's Office.

He has specifically addressed the issue of illegal logging twice in the last few days. In a Cabinet meeting on Monday he told law enforcement institutions and heads of regional administrations to take actionsagainst illegal logging.

He warned them against acting "softly" and "permissively" toward the perpetrators, and told them not to fear of possible backing for the forestry criminals.

He also expressed his disappointment over his subordinates' failure to compile a regular and systematic report on illegal logging activities and action taken against them.

The President on Wednesday reiterated for both central government and regional administrations to partner with environmental NGOs, saying the government possessed the same environmental goals with the latter.

He particularly praised Greenpeace Indonesia and the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) for "actively criticizing the government's forestry management".

The President also reminded the heads of regional administrations to support the central government's national tree planting movement as part of reforestation measures.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest forested nation with about 120 million hectares of rainforest. The country, however, experiences the fastest deforestation rate on the planet, with around 1.08 million hectares lost each year.

Data from the Forestry Ministry shows the deforestation rate between 1998 and 2000 reached 2.8 million hectares per year due to massive forest conversion, illegal logging and forest fires.

Yudhoyono earlier announced Indonesia's commitment to reducing the country's carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020 using its own resources and by 41 percent with international funding.

Greenpeace, Sawit Watch urge government to halt plantation

Tempo Interactive - April 6, 2010

Pingit Aria, Jakarta – A coalition of environmental and rights groups have launched another call for the government to end the expansion of plantation areas in natural forests, and demand serious measures from the government to meet its 26 percent carbon cut.

At a press conference in Jakarta the group which includes Greenpeace, Indonesia Friends of the Earth, Sawit Watch, and Forest Watch Indonesia urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to order the Forestry Minister to revoke several policies on forest and peat land conversion for large industrial purposes.

The group said expansion of palm oil plantations has come to a critical point. We have 9 million hectares of palm plantationwith expansion of Rp200,000 hectares per year," Jefri Gideon Saragih of the Sawit Watch told reporters. Of the expansion figure about 100,000 hectares are peatland which conversion process according to Sawit Watch responsible for the "largest carbon emission in Indonesia".

The group suggested the government to raise production level by intensifying productivity of the current planttaaion areas. It said malysia who has only about 4.9 hectares was able to produce up to 18 million tonnes of palm oil while Indonesia only produced about 21.3 million a year.

Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace's Southeast Asia forest campaigner said the halt "is important to prove the commitment and determination of the government in achieving the 26 percent emission cut target by 2020."

The group has also previously said The international will and funding to protect Indonesia's forests is there. It is therefore contradictory for Indonesia to promote further plantations at the expense of forests

The Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan of Yudhoyono's Democratic party responded to the call by saying "Tell the NGOs to see me."

SBY's party threatens to use mudflow case

Jakarta Post - April 1, 2010

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has suggested reopening the high-profile mudflow case in East Java, which implicates a mining company controlled by the business group of Golkar Party leader Aburizal Bakrie.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, a contender for the Democratic Party's top post, stressed here Wednesday that the spreading mud covering 100,000 cubic meters of land and displacing thousands of villagers, was a legal and political liability.

The drilling activity of Lapindo Brantas Inc. in May 2006 was followed by a mudflow, which continues to spread. However the Supreme Court last year declared the company was not guilty of the disaster, which has impacted on people living in the industrial area of Sidoarjo.

Although the government earlier announced that the mudflow was a natural disaster, also implying that the company should not be blamed, Yudhoyono on Monday reminded the management of its commitment to pay compensation to the victims.

While urging faster payment of compensation to thousands of displaced villagers, the President had stated that the area, if managed well, could be developed into a study site for geological and fishery issues.

The statement came in the wake of reported weakening signs of his coalition, which includes the Golkar Party.

"The Lapindo mudflow case has been dormant," said Marzuki. "But it may explode again into a national issue with political implications on the 2014 presidential election. It involves a major mining corporation belonging to a powerful tycoon and politician."

At the time of the mud eruption, which experts said could continue for dozens of years, Aburizal was the coordinating public welfare minister.

"Our party's agenda includes raising this issue in the immediate future," Marzuki said, because the mudflow near the country's second largest city, Surabaya, "has been handled less professionally," he said.

Despite the Supreme Court ruling, he said, his party would ask the police and the Attorney General's Office to reopen the case, given the party's suspicions of judicial corruption in the handling of the case.

The verdict was controversial amid differing views among experts, with some saying it was the 2006 earthquake of Yogyakarta and Central Java, not the drilling, that had triggered the mudflow.

Others said the distance of the earthquake's epicenter was too far from the drilling site to state that the earthquake was mainly responsible for the mudflow, which disrupted traffic routes.

Marzuki made the statement following Yudhoyono's visit to the disaster area, but he denied that his party's proposition was part of a political retaliation against Golkar.

Along with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Golkar has been considered to have betrayed the government coalition at the House, a partnership that briefly claimed to comprise 75 percent of the House's 560 seats.

Apart from the mudflow, Democratic Party members have another source of ammunition; many members have raised the case of alleged tax evasion of Bakrie's coal companies, also in the wake of the coalition fallout.

In the uproar over the bailout of the troubled Bank Century, Golkar and the PKS were among the most critical of the government decision regarding the bailout, which cost the state Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

Reliable sources at the Democratic Party who asked for anonymity warned Aburizal against contending the next presidential race, saying the alleged tax evasion and mudflow cases were two issues the party could politicize to block his presidential bid in 2014.

The mudflow issue was more or less "dormant" since the Supreme Court's verdict, which upheld the lower courts' verdict.

The class action, filed several months after four villages sunk in the large mud pond, led by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation and the Environmental Forum, accused Lapindo of environmental damage and human rights violations.

The verdicts cited human error but concluded nonetheless that Lapindo was not guilty, the verdict referring to inconclusive evidence given the widely differing views of scientists on the cause of the mudflow.

Public opinion gradually shifted. The Sidoarjo regency and provincial administrations, political parties and mass organizations with a large base in the dense area, including the largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, which initially had pointed their finger at Lapindo, seemed to accept the scientific opinion aired by a number of experts that the mudflow was a natural disaster.

This implied that the government, with taxpayers' money, must take responsibility for the mudflow's environmental and social impacts.

Prominent lawyer Bambang Widjojanto says if the Democratic Party can secure new evidence it can lead the way in reopening the case.

"The different opinion among experts on the mudflow's cause cannot be taken as the only reason to drop the case. The police should consider the continually spreading mudflow and the increasing suffering of mudflow victims as strong evidence to take the case to court again," he said.

While some displaced residents have received compensation, the management said it was still processing payment to more than 40 percent of victims.

The displaced have said compensation is slow while the management of PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya, the firm responsible for the payments, have said the issue of proving land ownership has been among the constraints.

Political observer J. Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic International Studies says the Democratic Party will immediately try to block Aburizal from the presidential race, armed with the tax evasion allegations and mudflow case. "The Democratic Party will unlikely wait until 2014 to block his bid, Democratic Party politicians will likely begin doing it now," he said.

However, he added, the political fallout would unlikely affect personal ties between Yudhoyono and Aburizal, at least in public.

Yudhoyono would likely attend the wedding ceremony scheduled Thursday of Aburizal's son Ardie Bakrie and actress Nia Ramadhani, Kristiadi said, to show the public his statesmanship and impress upon the public that the political friction between their two political parties has not disrupted personal relations.

Environmentalists decry gold mining in park

Jakarta Post - April 1, 2010

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Conservationists in Lampung are up in arms over the resumption of gold mining in the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, saying the activity threatens the area's ecosystem.

"Gold mining in the forest is destroying the ecosystem," Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) campaign manager Mukri Friatna said recently. "We have proof that gold-mining activities carried out by PT Natarang Mining in the park from 2006 to 2008 have damaged the forest."

He added the Lampung Forestry Office should be held accountable for breaching the mining ban in the national park by granting concessions in the area to miners. "The company had initially stopped mining after protests from the public and environmental groups," Mukri said.

Lampung Forestry Office head Hanan A. Razak said the provincial administration had allowed gold mining within a 40-hectare area in the national park, which straddles West Lampung and Tanggamus regencies, saying it would bring significant economic benefits for the people of Lampung. Hanan added the mining activities were legitimate under the forestry law.

"The mining is carried out underground so it doesn't affect trees aboveground," he claimed. "We issue the concessions, and we benefit from the economic activities entailed."

Natarang Mining previously explored a 40-hectare concession in Tanggamus before it was forced to stop in 2008.

"The concession is right next to the national park so any activity there severely threatens the park," said Walhi Lampung director Hendrawan. "Part of the concession overlapped into the park."

He added gold mining in the national park would aggravate the problem of illegal logging and lead to greater threats to the wildlife.

"The illegal loggers at work in the area have already encroached into the habitat of the wild elephants," Hendrawan said.

"So if we get gold miners in there too, the elephants' mobility will be severely restricted and we're going to see more incidents of elephants stampeding in villages and farms."

Tanggamus resident Meza Swastika said he had noticed more guard posts and helipads in the area.

"It's a given that mining will cause environmental damage," he said. "Plus they're going to disturb a historical site that most locals believe dates back to the Majapahit Kingdom."

Refugees/asylum seekers

Six-month asylum stand-off to end 'in five days'

Sydney Morning Herald - April 8, 2010

Tom Allard, Jakarta – The six-month impasse between Indonesian authorities and a group of about 240 asylum seekers who refused to leave their boat in the port of Merak appears to be ending, after the Sri Lankans were told they would have to move to accommodation "near Singapore".

The stand-off at Merak made headlines in Australia and around the world, not least because the boat carrying the Tamils fleeing the aftermath of Sri Lanka's civil war was intercepted after a personal request from the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

After negotiations yesterday, there were differing accounts of the outcome, although they both pointed to the stand-off ending – one way or another – within the next week.

Indonesia's senior negotiator, the foreign affairs official Sujatmiko, said the Tamils had agreed to disembark and would do so once arrangements were in place in five days' time.

A spokesman for the asylum seekers, who calls himself Nimal, said authorities had agreed to give them five more days on the boat to think about their position, but the Tamils had not guaranteed they would leave voluntarily.

"We are ready to come off the boat and go into the accommodation but we want some confirmation from the Indonesians that we are not put into detention, or deported and they will help us with resettlement as soon as possible," Nimal said. "We don't want to have to wait four years or more."

Indonesian officials would not disclose where they would take the Sri Lankans, other than to tell them it was "near Singapore" and to show them a photograph of a large house.

The island of Gadang, where the United Nations ran a huge refugee centre during the Vietnamese boat people crisis in the 1970s, is believed to be their likely destination. However, the Australian-funded detention centre at Tanjung Pinang on Bintan island is also close to Singapore.

Officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration accompanied the Indonesian authorities to Merak yesterday and begun taking names and photographs of the Tamils.

The Sri Lankans – who include 31 children and a heavily pregnant woman – have been living in squalid conditions on the boat, which has only one toilet, since October. Yesterday, some were moved into large tents at the port.

Amid outbreaks of disease, the death of one of the asylum seekers through illness and the escape of their leader Sanjeev "Alex" Kuhendrarajah, those at Merak have been pressing for a special deal similar to that given by the Rudd government to another group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were intercepted by the Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking a week after they were.

While those on the Oceanic Viking have been resettled in countries around the world under the deal thanks to their good fortune of being intercepted by an Australian-flagged vessel, those at Merak have been told they will get no special treatment.

Asylum seekers in Indonesia usually wait many years before being resettled by the UNHCR.

Health & education

Business as usual for universities after law revoked

Jakarta Post - April 7, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Business will continue as usual for Indonesia's largest universities despite a recent annulment of a 2009 law on educational legal entities by the Constitutional Court, a former minister said Tuesday.

Former national education minister Bambang Sudibyo said universities that have turned into state-owned legal entities (BHMN) "shall retain their existences based on their own statutes".

Seven state universities have become BHMNs since 2001, including the University of Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology, Gadjah Mada University, the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, the Bandung Indonesian Education University, the Airlangga University and the North Sumatra University.

By being BHMN, the universities were granted autonomy to financially support themselves. State subsidies to the universities were subsequently reduced.

Bambang said the universities were still legal entities, but would revert to their original legal statuses, such as foundation, endowed educational institution or company.

"It does not necessarily mean that the BHMN of the University of Indonesia, for example, will have to close down," he said.

Bambang witnessed the deliberation of the much-criticized law during his tenure. However, the law was never fully implemented because it was declared unconstitutional soon after it was passed.

The court said that it found fault in an article of the law that required all educational institutions to take the same form of educational legal entity and generate their own funding. Many universities, they argued, did not have the capability to do finance themselves.

Constitutional Court judge Akil Mochtar said Tuesday that the law benefited only big universities, and that smaller ones would have struggled to meet the requirements to become legal entities and generate their own funding.

"Most big universities were willing to comply with the law because they are ready. But it's a different story for those in remote regions, or other small education institutions. If they had to mobilize their own financial resources and if one day they went bankrupt and had to sell their assets, what would be the fate of their students?" he said.

Akil also said the law would hurt the country's oldest educational institutions. "The Taman Siswa foundation, Muhammadiyah schools and some Christian educational institutions existed even before this country gained its freedom, but under this law, their existences are not acknowledged," he added.

The revoked law only recognized one legal status for educational institutions, which was Educational Legal Entity (BHP). Foundations or informal institutions would have to change their status to BHP and comply with management guidelines stipulated in the law.

Bambang said that a new law was now required to regulate educational legal entities.

"The Constitutional Court ruling does not annul Article 53 of the National Education System, which stipulates a law be deliberated to regulate on educational legal entities. So the government and the legislators at the House of Representatives now have homework to formulate a new law," he added.

The Education Ministry has not publicly responded to the ruling, but said it would study the court's ruling before making any decision.

Historic ruling throws out law on Indonesian universities

Jakarta Globe - April 1, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Anita Rachman – For the first time, the Constitutional Court on Wednesday annulled an entire law.

It revoked the Law on Education Legal Entity (BHP), which has been a source of controversy ever since it was deliberated at the House of Representatives.

The court "declares that Law of Education Legal Entity 2009 is against the Constitution and it is not legally binding," said Mahfud MD, the Constitutional Court chief.

Forty applicants – students, parents, universities, academic associations, teachers and many others – had demanded the court annul the law, arguing that it pushed education fees up and hindered greater access to education.

The court stated that the law, passed in December 2008, was weak in its juridical aspect, clarity of purpose and harmony with other laws.

"The law assumes that all education providers have the same ability to implement the law's requirements," Judge Hamdan Zoelva said. "Not all higher education [institutions] have the same ability, while the differences are clearly seen."

The law granted autonomy to educational institutions, including seeking their own funding. The law has sparked debate and protest from students and parents, despite government assurances that universities could raise only one-third of their operating funds from students.

The rest, including investment funds, had to come from the government and the universities. State universities had to provide scholarships to students from low-income families and earmark at least 20 percent of its openings for such students.

But students claimed the autonomy only gave universities more room to raise fees.

"The spirit of the autonomy law is privatization. We don't believe students will pay cheaper tuition fees once their campuses are granted autonomy," said Ade Irawan, a public service monitoring coordinator with Indonesia Corruption Watch.

Minister of National Education Mohammad Nuh told the Jakarta Globe he needed to study the verdict before commenting.

The court also ordered changes in some articles in the National Education Law.

An article that says citizens are responsible for the sustainability of the education system was changed to citizens share the responsibility, meaning the government is also responsible.

Vice President Boediono was quoted by his spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, as saying the government "will take several steps needed to adjust the system."

"The court ruling has a massive impact on the national education system," Yopie said, adding that the government "will obey the court ruling."

Heri Akhmadi, deputy chairman of House Commission X overseeing education, said the House had no choice but to accept the ruling. Commission deputy Rully Chairul Azwar said the House and the government now had to search for other ways to support universities.

Red-light district 'must go'

Jakarta Post - April 1, 2010

Achmad Faisal, Surabaya – Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf has proposed that the Surabaya municipal administration close down and quarantine the Dolly red-light district to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

He said the number of sex workers living with STIs in East Java was increasing. "However, before closing it down, the municipal administration needs to prepare a well-planned strategy to prevent it from creating polemics," Saifullah said in Surabaya on Tuesday.

He said the provincial administration must help sex workers and pimps from the red-light district find work in other professions. "That way they won't depend on the red-light district for making money," he said.

Quoting a Health Ministry regulation on quarantine, he said sex workers in the district should be put into isolation because more than half of them were living with STIs.

Data at the Surabaya Health Agency shows that 900 of the 1,287 commercial sex workers operating in Dolly, which is the biggest red-light district in Southeast Asia, are living with STIs.

Responding to the deputy governor's call, the Surabaya administration said it was not responsible for closing down the district because it had never officially opened it. "Just go ahead if the provincial administration wants to close it down. It's impossible for the municipal administration to do so,"

Eko Hariyanto, in charge of social affairs, said, adding that the district contributed greatly to the city's economy. "We supervise and empower people to prevent them from clinging on to this disgraceful profession," he said.

A local community healthcare group has recorded 16 new cases of HIV in the Dolly district and Jarak, another red-light district in the city, so far this year. The combined number of people living with HIV/AIDS at both red-light districts has risen to 95 in 2009 from 46 in 2006.

Separately, the East Java AIDS Commission recorded 3,030 cases of AIDS in September 2009 in the province. The figure shot up to 3,234 the following month, meaning the province has the second- highest number of cases in the country after Greater Jakarta.

Bank Century inquiry

Century money trail our sole concern: Lawmakers

Jakarta Globe - April 4, 2010

Anita Rachman – Lawmakers who initiated the House of Representatives inquiry into the bailout of Bank Century said on Sunday that their only concern was where the money went, after visiting former Vice President Jusuf Kalla at his home in South Jakarta.

"We have no interest in impeaching Vice President [Boediono] or the president. We are using our right to express an opinion to find out where funds disbursed to bail out the bank went," Akbar Faisal of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) said.

"We are [working] based on the constitutional law. Please don't read this as anything else. This is our way to monitor the government," Akbar said.

Kalla declined to comment or offer support to the lawmakers. "I am not a party chairman, I couldn't give any support," he said. "I believe the special committee's recommendation is just an opinion."

A House plenary meeting last month found the bailout in 2008 violated laws and recommended that law-enforcement agencies investigate indications of corruption, banking crimes and general crimes, as well as any officials deemed responsible for the rescue.

The government recently followed the recommendation that law- enforcement agencies question state officials who sanctioned the rescue.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that if wrongdoing or negligence were revealed, it should first be determined whether it was the result of an administrative mistake or a crime.

"It is your duty as ministers and law authorities to carry out your work to uphold the truth," he said.

Lawmakers taking Century battle to the next level

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

Anita Rachman – Unsatisfied with the government's response to the House of Representatives findings on the Bank Century scandal, lawmakers on Friday said they would seek to initiate the right to express an opinion, the first step toward impeachment of a president or vice president.

Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo, one of the initiators of the House inquiry, said that starting on Monday, the team of nine that had initiated the probe would begin to drum up support from lawmakers for the move.

The right of expressing opinion is the next step after the use of inquiry rights by the House of Representatives and can also be used to respond to suspicion that the president or the vice president was involved in criminal activity.

In early March, a House plenary meeting voted that the bailout of Bank Century in 2008 violated laws and recommended that law- enforcement agencies investigate indications of corruption, banking crimes and general crimes, as well as any officials deemed responsible for the Rp 6.7 trillion ($723 million) rescue.

The House also found that Vice President Boediono, governor of Bank Indonesia at the time of the bailout, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, were among the most responsible.

"We haven't obtained the government's feedback on our findings and recommendations, and law enforcement by the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] has not been as we have expected," Bambang said after meeting with Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD.

"So far, there has yet been no summons on Sri Mulyani and Boediono. So our voice means nothing" to the government, he said.

The initiators of the probe went to see Mahfud to seek advice on their plan to move with the rights of expression and to also seek the court's support for a related judicial review on the 2009 Law on Legislative Bodies submitted this week by a group of lawyers.

Bambang said the team would need at least 25 signatures from lawmakers to start the process of using their rights to express an opinion. He said he was very optimistic that the team would get the signatures, especially from the seven of the House's nine factions that voted to declare the bailout illegal. Only the Democratic Party and close ally the National Awakening Party (PKB) voted that it was legal.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a researcher with the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said the biggest obstacle would be getting three-quarters of the House to get the necessary quorum to be able to state the rights of expression.

"This is not easy, because the Democratic Party itself accounts for more than one fourth the [House]. If none of the members of Democratic Party shows up in the plenary meeting, the rights to express an opinion will never happen," he said.

"I think this is just part of their political pressure on the president."

A group of lawyers on Monday filed for a judicial review of the quorum issue, arguing that the Constitution only stipulated a two-thirds quorum but the 2009 law put it at three-quarters.

Graft & corruption

Man claims he sold family home to pay off police

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Nivell Rayda – The Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force on Thursday agreed to examine a criminal case involving a farmer from Indramayu, West Java, who claimed to have been extorted by a police officer.

Forty-year-old Kadana told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that he had spent millions of rupiah after he was accused of murdering a neighbor.

Kadana said an officer from the Karangampel Police subprecinct approached him and promised to get the charges dropped in exchange for a sum of money. Kadana said he then sold all of his property to raise the cash.

For the past month, the farmer's wife, Darmi, 35, and their six children, between the ages of 18 months and 13 years, have been living in a goat shed owned by a neighbor.

Kadana said his family was only able to survive thanks to the generosity of neighbors who provided them with rice.

"It breaks my heart seeing my children unable to go to school and eat nothing but rice. If not for the kindness of people in my village, I don't know where my family would sleep at night," Kadana told the Globe at the task force's office in Central Jakarta.

Kadana said he was forced to sell his house below market price because he was desperate to pay off the officer.

"What else could I do? I had no choice but to do what he said," he said. "I didn't do anything and was nowhere near [the victim], but the police insisted that they had several witnesses who put me at the scene of the crime."

Kadana said he sold his house for Rp 10 million [$1,000], an extremely low price even in a rural area like Karangampel, because he was desperate to raise the Rp 14.3 million that the police officer was demanding.

"I tried my best, borrowing money from everyone I know. First he asked for Rp 6 million. Later he told me he needed another Rp 4 million for the Indramayu Police precinct and so on and so on," Kadana said.

"He kept extorting me. I even had to walk 10 kilometers just to deliver his money because I ran out of money to pay for transportation," the farmer added.

Kadana said that despite paying the officer, the Indramayu District Court sentenced him to seven years in prison on Tuesday. "I was outraged. I couldn't believe that a police officer could extort a poor person like me," he said.

Denny Indrayana, secretary of the presidentially appointed task force, said a special report that ran on Metro TV on Wednesday evening had brought the case to the team's attention.

On Thursday, the team had Kadana transferred to Jakarta and promised him and his family protection. Several task force members have traveled to Indramayu to gather more information.

"This case serves as an example that poor people like Kadana are the real victims of the judicial mafia. Case brokers do not care if a person is rich or poor, they ruthlessly suck a person dry," Denny said.

"We hope that Kadana will be able to identify the rogue officer who extorted him, along with his accomplices," he added.

Indonesia Corruption Watch said the case could serve as a lesson to people not to deal with case brokers.

"There are countless cases where suspects are tricked by people or officers claiming they can get a criminal prosecution dropped. More often than not it's a trick and they lose millions in the process," ICW deputy chairman Emerson Yuntho said.

"The only way is to face justice. Underprivileged people can seek the help of the Legal Aid Foundation or similar nonprofit groups. There is absolutely no reason for them to meet rogue officers' demands for a payoff."

Susno launches new attack on national police

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the country's former most senior detective, is at it again, attacking National Police for what he alleges is their failure to protect him after he blew the whistle on alleged corruption involving senior officers.

Speaking to House of Representatives Commission III for law and legislation, Susno told the legislators on Thursday that instead of protection, "I received legal threats in the form of alleged defamation, for example."

Susno was referring to legal action launched by two senior officers from the National Police – Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman and Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas – who say he accused them of taking bribes in return for halting a probe into a Rp 25 billion ($2.75 million) corruption case involving allegedly corrupt tax official Gayus Tambunan.

He told the lawmakers that he had previously summoned Raja to his house in Depok to question him about the allegedly corrupt resolution of the Gayus case in the Tangerang District Court, including the police charges, but Raja did not give clear answers.

"Raja Erizman just laughed. He didn't answer my questions clearly, it seemed to me that somebody was pressuring him," Susno said.

In a document circulating among journalists, Raja asked the president director of PT Bank Panin to lift the freeze on Gayus' accounts because they had nothing to do with the criminal case and because prosecutors and police were investigating another account of Gayus's in a different bank.

In the letter classified as secret and dated Nov. 26, two days after Susno was dismissed as the chief of detectives, Raja told the Bank Panin director: "The evidence of the case is with another financial service provider, so the accounts... of Gayus Halomoan P Tambunan have no connection with the ongoing investigation. Accordingly, the assets in those accounts can be reopened."

Raja at that time served as the director for special economic crimes at Susno's former office. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Jakarta Globe, also referred to the prosecutor's recommendation in asking that the freeze on the accounts to be lifted.

Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas has officially been replaced as the chief of Lampung Police by National Police deputy spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak, while Raja is still yet to have any action taken against him despite also being implicated in the Gayus scandal.

Massive new tax corruption case emerges

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

In yet another blow to the Directorate General of Taxation, Jakarta Police have launched an investigation into a former tax official after Rp 70 billion ($7.7 million) was discovered in his bank account.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi told Detik.com that "the case is being investigated by the Special Economic Crimes Division of the Jakarta Police." The official was identified as Bahasyim Assifie.

The bulging bank account was first discovered by the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) dwarfs the Rp 25 billion ($2.75 million) discovered in the account of allegedly corrupt tax official Gayus Tambunan. Gayus has been named a suspect for money laundering, tax embezzlement and corruption.

Bahasyim had been transferred from the tax directorate to the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) but he resigned last week for unknown reasons.

"Bahasyim officially resigned at the end of March," State Minister for National Development Planning Armida S Alisjahbana said on Thursday. "I had replied to his resignation letter saying I approved it. The Ministerial Decree was issued on April 1, 2010."

Armida had also sent an official notice to the Finance Ministry about Bahasyim's resignation. "Bahasyim worked at Bappenas since May 2008. His previous post was at the Directorate General of Taxation so when he resigned, I issued a decree and my secretary sent a notice to the Finance Ministry on April 1," Armida said.

Officials feel heat of public tax rage

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran, Dion Bisara & Anita Rachman – The head of the tax office on Wednesday sought to stress how harassed and upset his staff were in the wake of recent revelations over graft in the office, but his battle will be hard to win if the strength of public feeling revealed in recent days is a guide.

The corruption case involving Gayus Tambunan, a middle-ranking tax official found with Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his bank accounts, is by no means exceptional. But public outrage seems to be boiling over a case that has come to symbolize how hard- working, tax-paying citizens are being cheated, as evidenced by thousands of complaints and tip-offs received by the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force and a general disdain now shown on the street toward tax officials.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that over 18 days, officials had received 12,294 text messages and 393 letters from the public, most saying they were squarely behind efforts to rid the judiciary and tax system of graft. Yudhoyono said that Gayus's case was a watershed in public expression. "The government, as represented by law enforcers, will solve the case and process it according to the law, because it is an extraordinary crime," he said.

Tax employees are now feeling the heat, both socially and psychologically, according to Mochamad Tjiptardjo, tax director general at the Finance Ministry.

Bus conductors who used to shout "tax, tax" when nearing the tax headquarters now shout "Gayus, Gayus" instead, Tjiptardjo told House Commission XI on finance and banking during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The effect of the Gayus case is severe. A tax office employee who forgot to remove his name tag on public transportation was called a thief," Tjiptardjo said.

Tax officers interviewed by the Jakarta Globe concurred. Heru Wibowo, a mid-level officer, said, "I feel people treat me differently when they find out I work at the tax office. Although sometimes they do not say it out loud, they see me as if I was Gayus himself," Heru said.

Faishal Saputra, who joined the tax office a year ago, said the online social networking site Facebook was now crammed with condemnations of tax staff.

"A friend of mine even got verbally abused on his Facebook page, with people calling him a thief," Faishal said. "When I got my wedding license at the Religious Affairs Office and got a checkup at the public health center, the other public servants there keep grilling me about Gayus."

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati responded to the Gayus findings by replacing his former director, Bambang Heru Ismiarso, suspending everyone working in his division and announced a sweeping corruption probe at the national tax office.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, whose office was also said to be involved in tax-related crimes, vowed to restructure his institution "soon."

But Andi Rachmat, a lawmaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) on Commission XI, said that self-assessment would never work in the ministries. He urged the House to push the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to step in and audit the system at the Finance Ministry.

KPK's leader integrity questioned

Jakarta Post - April 8, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Observers said Wednesday a meeting between a leader of the antigraft commission with figures close to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati could damage public trust of the commission, which has been investigating the Bank Century case.

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah on Tuesday night met with lawyer Arief T. Surowidjojo, also legal councilor for Mulyani, at Daniel Lev's Library at Puri Imperium building in South Jakarta.

"Chandra's action was against the KPK's code of ethics," Indonesia Corruption Watch deputy coordinator Emerson Yuntho said. "Regardless of the meeting's purpose, the public might become suspicious that the KPK is no longer objective in probing the Century case."

Article 36 of the 2002 KPK Law stipulated that KPK leaders were not allowed to communicate directly and indirectly with suspects or other parties close to graft cases currently under KPK investigation. Similar stipulation is also included in the KPK's code of ethics.

Arief is a former member of the KPK Defender Team, a group of 20 lawyers who worked for advocacy for Chandra and the other KPK deputy chairman, Bibit Samad Rianto, when the two were charged with graft by the police last year.

Also attending the meeting at Puri Imperium were other team members, such as Alexander Lay, Taufik Basari and Fikri Assegaf, as well as former KPK deputy chairman, Erry Riana Hardjapamekas.

Chandra confirmed the meeting but denied it had been about the Century case. "We were talking about books," he told Antara.

Chandra claimed that he had told Bibit about the meeting but the latter denied it. "What meeting? I am on official duty in Balikpapan," Bibit said.

The KPK is now investigating alleged graft surrounding the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout of Bank Century (now Bank Mutiara) in late 2008.

The House of Representatives in December 2009 formed an inquiry team on the case to investigate irregularities in the bailout.

Last month, a parliamentary plenary meeting received the result of the inquiry investigation, concluding that Bank Indonesia, the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) were among institutions responsible for the fiasco. Chairing the KSSK was minister Mulyani.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that BI, the KSSK and the LPS, were among institutions the antigraft body had been investigating over the Century case.

Bibit and Chandra had been detained by the police for taking bribes from Anggodo. The accusation has was not proven. A public outcry, including the 1 million Facebooker movement for Bibit- Chandra, helped the acquittal of the two KPK leaders. Political observer Ray Rangkuti said Chandra's action might disappoint the public who had expressed great sympathy when the latter was arrested. "This is not the first time the KPK has acted suspiciously.

"How can the KPK survive against outside pressure over the Century case if its leader can't strengthen the institution," Ray said.

According to Taufik, the Imperium meeting was not about a case being investigated by the anticorruption body. "We were discussing the pre-trial lawsuit filed by Anggodo Widjojo against the SKPP," Taufik said.

Taufik said Erry's position at the meeting was as the KPK Defender Team's adviser.

SBY urges mafia-busters urged to chase after 'big fish'

Jakarta Globe - April 7, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Farouk Arnaz – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday ordered the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force to concentrate on catching the "big fish," as reports emerged of corruption cases far bigger than the Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) uncovered in a mid-ranking tax official's bank accounts.

"He hopes we can catch big fish, or expose really big cases and reveal problems that have been hidden," task force head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said after a meeting at the Presidential Palace.

Yudhoyono called on the team to focus on the so-called judicial mafia, especially law enforcers who fixed cases in exchange for cash. For that reason, the president told the task force to monitor not only the central government but also regional administrations.

State corruption was again in the spotlight when Rp 28 billion was found in tax official Gayus Tambunan's accounts. He was acquitted of embezzlement last month, prompting a former National Police chief of detectives to accuse high-ranking police officials of taking bribes from Gayus to unfreeze his accounts and insure a favorable ruling at his trial.

Mahfud MD, head of the Constitutional Court, was also at the meeting and said there was a bigger case on the horizon unrelated to the tax office. "It is more than Gayus, it is worth nearly Rp 100 billion," he said. "It is cross-institutional corruption."

Mahfud said he had obtained a report on the case from a member of the House of Representatives, but declined to elaborate, saying it was not up to him as a Constitutional Court justice to reveal it.

The chief of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Yunus Husein, said on Tuesday that there was another case involving a former high-ranking tax official. He declined to mention any amount, however.

Yunus said his agency had uncovered another tax official with billions of rupiah in assets. He said the case had been reported to the chief of the National Police and the Attorney General's Office in March last year.

"It is up to the [National Police chief] whether his detective unit investigates the case," he said. Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said after meeting the president that his office had been investigating yet another tax case involving a larger sum than Gayus's case. He also did not provide further details.

Kuntoro said his task force had not received information regarding the big cases but he hoped to receive it soon.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said a PPATK report showed many tax officials had more money than Gayus in their accounts.

"We will check the PPATK report again," Ito said, adding that the law required the center to alert the police to any suspicious transactions, with the police expected to determine if there were indications of crime.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati vowed to take action against any of her officials linked to tax crimes.

"Gayus has been discharged, and there are two others who are being processed, and if there is enough proof to warrant sanction, the cases will be processed this week according to the regulations," she said.

She also warned that anyone with knowledge of irregularities but who declined to report it would also be sanctioned.

Sri Mulyani said nonperforming high-ranking officials would be moved to other posts and the first transfers of directors, especially those related to the Gayus case, were imminent.

Her ministry's inspector general, Hekinus Manap, said Gayus had told police others in his office were involved in brokering tax cases and named 13 people, including some outside the office.

He said that so far only one official had been discharged, while the fate of nine others would be announced on Monday.

Government vows hefty sentences for major corruption convicts

Jakarta Post - April 7, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – In response to the emergence of high- profile corruption cases, the government says it would hand down more severe punishment for graft convicts.

The announcement comes following the recent disclosure of major corruption cases implicating officials at the tax office, National Police and the judiciary. Corruption remains widespread in the government bureaucracy, shoring up Indonesia's reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Tuesday defended his support for the enforcement of capital punishment, which received the cold shoulder from rights activists.

Indonesian law stipulates that the death sentence can be handed down to major graft convicts in exceptional circumstances, such as during financial crises or major disasters.

Patrialis said people found embezzling disaster relief aid, for example, deserved the death penalty for the inhuman nature of their crime.

"In times of crisis, the country needs the vital resources to help survivors," he said before meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace.

Other crimes punishable by death include murder, terrorism and drugs-related offences.

Yudhoyono, who won international accolade for his efforts to eradicate corruption, summoned Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati Tuesday to review the latest developments in the fight against graft.

The judicial system has often come under fire for handing down lenient sentences to graft convicts.

The most severe was the 20-year prison sentence for Urip Tri Gunawan handed down by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in 2008. Urip was found guilty of accepting Rp 6 billion from a businesswoman.

Many graft convicts receive prison terms of around 4 years. District courts have come under criticism for handing down even lighter sentences or even acquittals. Patrialis said the death sentence did not violate the Constitution.

Commenting on the issue, the secretary of the presidential Judicial Corruption Taskforce, Denny Indrayana, expressed approval that the government favored heavier punishment for graft convicts.

However, he expressed doubts that the death sentence could be imposed in practice. "We have to consider human rights objections to the death penalty," he said.

Indonesia Corruption Watch activist Adnan Topan Husodo said he disagreed with imposing the death sentence for corruption convicts. He said capital punishment violated human rights and the people's sense of justice.

Moreover, he said, the death sentence was no longer compatible with principles of modern democracy that Indonesia rigorously pursued. "It would be better for the government to implement other forms of punishment that could act as deterrents.

"The legal system should also ensure that the state can recover the embezzled money," Adnan said, adding that a life sentence would be better. "An option would be to make the convict repay the money twice what they embezzled, for example."

Police chief threatens to dump rotten cops in 'trash'

Jakarta Globe - April 7, 2010

National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on Tuesday that he would fire police officers found guilty of engineering criminal cases.

"Reforms of the Indonesian police is a must," Bambang said in Jakarta. "Police officers who refuse reforms, like those engineering criminal cases, must be thrown into the trash can."

He added that all police officers need to have a strong commitment to change and no longer engineer criminal cases. Those that failed to do so and broke the law would be arrested, Bambang said.

The police, considered one of Indonesia's most corrupt institutions, have proved particularly resistant to reform and remain largely unprofessional, with many officers demanding illegal payments for the most basic of services.

However, after renegade Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the National Police's former chief detective, exposed the involvement of senior police officers in the corruption scandal involving allegedly corrupt tax official Gayus Tambunan, the situation has changed slightly.

Two police investigators, Comr. Arafat Enanie and Adjutant Comr. Sri Sumartini, have already been arrested for their alleged involvement in the Gayus fiscal mafia case, and another five are being questioned.

On April 2, Lampung Police Chief Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas, the former head of economic crimes at National Police, was stood down from his post. Edmon was implicated by Susno as being involved in the same case but has not been charged.

Another officer, Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, who is the current head of economic crimes at National Police, is yet to have any action taken against him despite also being implicated in the Gayus scandal.

Raja has hit back at Susno, leveling counter accusations of corruption, which Susno has denied.

High-profile case broker gets sentence reduction

Jakarta Globe - April 6, 2010

Convicted case broker Artalyta Suryani, who outraged the public after her luxury life behind bars was revealed by the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, has been handed a 6 month prison reduction by the Supreme Court.

In what is sure to create further anger against an already controversial character, four of five judges presiding over a case review, cut Arthalyta's sentence from five years to four-and-a-half years for bribing state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan with $660,000 in return for halting a major embezzlement case.

"Yes, it's true that her case review has been granted," Judge Krisna Harahap, one of the members of the review team, told Detik.com. Krisna, the only dissenting voice, said the reduction "should not have been given."

Presiding judge Djoko Sarwoko as well as judges Hatta Ali, Sofyan Martabaya and Imam Hariyadi approved the case review. It is unknown why they approved the application.

In January, Artalyta was discovered living in comparative luxury in East Jakarta's Pondok Bambu Women's Detention Center where she was serving her sentence.

The Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force discovered high-profile inmates, including Artalyta, enjoying special privileges, including a karaoke room, spa treatments, air conditioning and LCD televisions.

Within a week, she was moved to a new shared cell in the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary.

PDI-P lawmaker says fellow members tried to cover up bribery

Jakarta Globe - April 6, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – On the eve of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's national congress in Bali, one party member told the Anti-Corruption Court at his trial on Monday that two fellow party members tried to cover up a major bribery case.

Lawmaker Dudhie Makmun Murod, a member of the party, also known as the PDI-P, told the court that Trimedya Panjaitan, a member of the House of Representatives' legal commission, recently visited him in his cell at the Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta and asked him to lie under oath.

"Later [in court] you must use your right to say what you want, you must protect your brothers and your brothers will protect you," Dudhie quoted Trimedya as having told him.

Speaking in Bali, Trimedya denied the allegation, saying he was just "visiting a party cadre in trouble," adding that they had not discussed any specific issues. "I never asked him to do that," he said, adding that he did not visit Dudhie alone.

"I went there with TK. It was TK who asked me to join him and visit Dudhie," Trimedya told the Jakarta Globe, referring to Taufik Kiemas, the party's advisory board chairman and husband of the PDI-P's founder and chairwoman, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Amir Karyatin, Dudhie's lawyer, confirmed that Taufik had come to the cell with Trimedya.

KPK prosecutors have accused Dudhie and three other defendants of having received a total of Rp 24 billion ($2.64 million) in bribes to get economist Miranda Goeltom elected as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor. Miranda won 41 out of the 51 votes of House Commission XI, which oversees finance and banking.

Dudhie claimed Trimedya had been sent by another senior PDI-P lawmaker, Panda Nababan, whom he has accused of receiving Rp 1.45 billion ($159,500) in traveler's checks, which Panda has denied.

Binsar Toras Simaringan, Panda's former personal assistant who cashed 28 checks worth Rp 1.45 billion soon after the vote, told the court the money went to Komaruddin, a former editor at Prioritas daily, where Panda formerly worked as deputy chief editor.

Meanwhile, Judge Nina Indrawati asked KPK prosecutors to conduct an assessment of the condition of businesswoman Nunun Nurbaetie Daradjatun, whose husband said she had been suffering from severe amnesia for three years.

The KPK suspects Nunun distributed 480 checks to the four defendants, who later distributed them to members of their respective parties. She has ignored two court summons. "We need to have a second opinion," Nina told senior prosecutor Muhammad Rum.

Tax scandal should 'lead to eradication of case brokers'

Jakarta Post - April 5, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, the defense counsel for disgraced tax official Gayus Tambunan, has urged the National Police to dig deeper to unearth all case-brokering syndicates in the country.

"This case is a golden opportunity... for Indonesia to uncover practices that have been tainting our law enforcement institutions for years on end, which is very embarrassing," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

On Saturday he announced his decision to agree to be the defense attorney for Gayus, the suspect in a money laundering, tax evasion and embezzlement case. Adnan said Gayus "will have to spill the beans on all the people in his network [of case tampering] and other networks as well... in return for my handling of the case".

"I told Gayus, 'the truth has to be revealed, only then can justice be served. If you only tell a part of the truth, it is more evil than the crime itself'," he said.

The case came to light in late March when former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji said that last year, when he was still chief detective, his division received a report from the Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center about Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) in an account owned by Gayus, who was then in charge of investigating tax appeals by individuals and legal bodies.

Gayus was charged with money laundering and embezzling Rp 395 million. In March, however, the Tangerang District Court acquitted him of all charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Adnan urged the police to start taking action and investigate deeper to uncover other players in the case. "They should learn from Gayus' case and his modus operandi. They have to see if the same pattern is used by other Gayuses," he said.

Adnan also recommended scrutinizing big tax-paying firms to see if there were discrepancies between their incomes and taxes paid. He said the police have made commitments to go after big players.

"National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and chief detective Ito Sumardi of the National Police have agreed to do so," he added.

But Susno warned of the lack of police commitment to reform. For example he recently alleged that practices such as taking illegal fees from lower-ranking officers were widespread in the police force.

"The revolving illegal fees force lower-ranking officers to aggressively extort members of the public by framing them," he said. Corruption practices, he added, have therefore intensified within the force.

He also gave a major hint about a case broker who operated inside the police force. The broker or "the big fish", as Susno called him, had his own room located between the offices of the police chief and the deputy police chief, he said.

Adnan said he sought to open up tampering syndicate cases not only in the tax office, but in other government institutions, including the police, Attorney General's Office and state pawn company PT Pegadaian.

"I do have big hopes that something big would come out of Gayus' case. For now I'm prioritizing my target [to uncover the syndicates] in the tax office," he added. "This thing is like a tangled thread. If you can find one of its ends, you can untangle the other ends," he said.

Gayus case 'tip of the iceberg'

Jakarta Post - April 3, 2010

Jakarta – The tax evasion case involving taxation directorate officer Gayus H. Tambunan is likely to implicate more players, indicating that the current case hits only the tip of the iceberg in tax-related corruption, a lawmaker at the House of Representatives law commission says.

There are at least 149 companies with tax issues related to Gayus, lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said Thursday after a meeting with National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

"I have a list [of the problematic firms]. They relate to Gayus' case, as indicated by Gayus' bank account transactions," Bambang said as quoted by Antara. He said the case, which involves Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) in Gayus account, was only a part of a larger crime.

Gayus is likely involved in tax crimes along with hundreds of companies, Bambang added.

Chief detective at the National Police Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said his detectives had begun investigating into hundreds of companies that evaded tax with Gayus' assistance.

Bambang said his commission regarded the tax crime case and corrupt officials inside tax offices and the police force an urgent matter. "We asked the National Police chief to fire police officers who are proven guilty of tampering with tax crime investigations," he said.

The Gayus case emerged when Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji told the media about "case brokers" in the National Police. Susno said shortly before he left his position as chief detective of the force, he received a report from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center about a suspicious Rp 28 billion in Gayus' bank account. Susno's statement has increased public scrutiny of the National Police and the Taxation Directorate General office.

Several tax experts said that Gayus was likely an amateur in tax crime, indicated by his "carelessness" having the money enter his bank account. They said more "experienced" corrupt tax officers received cash as payment because it was harder to trace.

The tax office is among institutions under Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati's reform program to "clean" the ministry. In 2006, the minister replaced the taxation director general from Hadi Poernomo to Darmin Nasution. Hadi, now Supreme Audit Agency chief, has been criticized after the public learned that most of his wealth, Rp 36 billion of Rp 38 billion, were reported as "donations".

Indonesia Corruption Watch calculated that the largest proportion of "gifts" Hadi received was when he was a tax examiner in Jakarta from 1987 to 1993.

The Directorate General of Taxation held a press conference Thursday, saying that internal investigation found indication that Gayus had violated anti-corruption and tax laws. Director General Mochamad Tjiptardjo said his office was also examining possible involvement of 10 of Gayus' superordinates. The 10 have been suspended while the examination is underway.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said Gayus' wife, Milana Anggraeni, was scheduled for questioning in relation to the case. Police said they received information that about Rp 3.6 billion of funds were transferred from Gayus account to Milana's. Gayus and Milana fled to Singapore on March 24. On Wednesday, Gayus returned to Indonesia, but Milana was not present during Gayus' arrival. Police confirmed that as of Thursday, Milana was in Jakarta.

Top officer dismissed, critics want heads to roll

Jakarta Post - April 3, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Police dismissed a top officer implicated in case tampering from his post on Friday, but continue to retain another, a move critics say is good but not enough.

Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas was removed from his post as Lampung Police chief and transferred to National Police headquarters to a "dead-end" post.

Edmond was one of the generals implicated by former chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji in the money laundering and tax evasion case of tax official Gayus Tambunan.

Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, who was also implicated in the case, retained his post as special financial crimes director.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri announced the dismissal, saying the move was aimed at smoothing out an internal affairs investigation into the alleged case broker ring.

He added that officers implicated could not effectively carry out their duties, so had to be suspended.

"We need to make the necessary changes or we will be severely hampered," Bambang said. Critics, however, said the move was not enough. They called on the police to thoroughly investigate all allegations of case brokering.

Gadjah Mada University legal expert Zainal Arifin Muchtar told The Jakarta Post that the dismissals were necessary but would not appease the public.

"Dismissals won't be enough if we want to get to the bottom of this case. These players are only the tip of the iceberg," Zainal, who also heads the Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat), said.

Apart from Edmond, Sr. Comr. Pambudi Pamungkas and Sr. Comr. Eko Budi Sampurno have also been suspended from their posts and transferred to redundant desk jobs.

Pambudi and Eko are former subordinates of Edmond when the latter served as the director of financial crimes at the National Detective Agency (Bareskrim) before heading Lampung Police. The officers are suspected of covering up the Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) Gayus tax evasion case.

Zainal said that there were more officers who should be dismissed. "For example, why is Raja still in his post?" he said.

Raja replaced Edmond as financial crimes director when Edmond moved to Lampung. The division handled Gayus' graft case.

Susno said that detectives at the division tampered with the investigation and hinted that they received bribes to free Gayus. "A lot of key figures have been implicated by Gayus and Susno. The police should be following up on this immediately," he said.

Zainal added that there might be many other culprits involved in similar criminal networks. "This case should be handled properly, as it will be the key to uncovering other cases," he said.

Susno has implied the presence of case brokers close to the National Police chief, saying "his room is at National Police headquarters, close to the chief's room". The National Police has refused to comment on Susno's claims.

To date, police have named six people suspects in the graft case: Gayus, Gayus' lawyer Haposan Hutagalung, Lambertus, businessman Andi Kosasih, detective Comr. Arafat, and detective Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini. All six are being held at the National Police jail.

Gayus case topples Indonesian police general

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

Farouk Arnaz & Heru Andriyanto – After rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan was questioned by police following his surrender in Singapore, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri on Friday removed a police general accused of taking bribes in the case.

The former National Police head of economic crimes, Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas, has been pulled off the job as Lampung Police chief. "I issued a letter today removing Edmond and several investigators at the economic crimes unit... because they need to face the investigation," Bambang said.

Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the former National Police chief detective, last month accused three police officials, identified only by rank and initials, of taking bribes from Gayus, a mid- ranking tax official, to bury a criminal probe. Gayus appeared on the police radar when he was found to have Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his bank accounts. The Tangerang District Court, however, acquitted him of embezzlement on March 12.

Bambang said Edmond faced two investigations: one by the internal affairs division and another by an independent team from the police's detective unit.

Brig. Gen. Radja Erisman, the director of economic crimes at the National Police believed to be another official implicated by Susno for graft, remains in his post.

Edmond and Radja have filed a criminal defamation complaint against Susno over his allegations, saying they were innocent of the charges.

Bambang stressed to the Jakarta Globe that Edmond was not yet a suspect. "We must uphold presumption of innocence," he said, adding that he would wait for the results of the investigation into the police general.

A senior police source told the Globe on condition of anonymity that investigators had evidence Edmond had received at least Rp 1.1 billion from Gayus and Andi Kosasih. Andi is a businessman who had claimed to own the money in Gayus's account, but he has since been declared a suspect for giving false information.

The source said that there was no evidence yet that Radja took bribes, but police uncovered an administrative offense.

"Radja unfroze Gayus's account, which is a breach of the Money Laundering Law. Only the National Police chief has authority to remove the freeze."

Radja also allegedly let Comr. Arafat Enanie and Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini question Gayus at hotels, not at National Police headquarters, during the earlier probe of the taxman this year.

The two are now suspects, with Arafat said to have received a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a Toyota Fortuner and a house from Gayus, the source said. "We already seized all of that as evidence, while Sumartini got Rp 100 million in cash, which she used to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca."

A police source added that Arafat also received bribes from PT Mega Cipta Jaya Garmindo, a company that allegedly transferred funds into Gayus's accounts.

Gayus surrendered to Indonesian police in Singapore on Tuesday after fleeing to the city-state.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office has yet to take action against its prosecutors who handled the case that ended with Gayus's acquittal.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji aired doubts that his staff had dismissed charges against Gayus for money. Instead, he blamed "thoughtlessness," saying they were overloaded with big cases.

90,000 Facebook users rail against graft in the tax office

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

Nurfika Osman & Dessy Sagita – Tens of thousands of Indonesians are expressing their disapproval of apparent corruption in the tax office on social networking site Facebook.

"How can we believe that they will use the tax properly when they keep stealing our money?" Alexander Spinoza, the creator of "The Movement of 1 Million Facebookers to Boycott Tax for Justice" told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

About 90,000 people have joined the group and the number is likely to rise.

Alexander, a communication consultant, said he believed rogue taxman Gayus Tambunan had stolen public funds. "Gayus is only a subordinate official and he was able to embezzle Rp 25 billion [$2.75 million]. What of his superiors?" he said.

Gayus was arrested in Singapore last week but has not been charged.

"However, I pay taxes and I need people to keep paying taxes because that way, we can demand our rights," he said, adding that he created the Facebook group on Jan. 5 when a number of senior members of the government, including cabinet ministers, were given luxurious Toyota Crown Saloon vehicles.

"This is a part of a protest from the community to demand their rights as citizens. We should be able to monitor the taxes," he said.

Alexander accused the government of making excuses about taxes and making groundless claims about plans to tackle poverty.

"They have been using our money for their unclear programs that they claimed would eradicate poverty in the country. But, we have not seen the results," he said.

Vira Farhana, a 25-year-old librarian, said she joined the group because she felt betrayed. "Taxes have always been deducted from my measly salary, even other income such as transportation and meal allowances have always been charged with a tax, but I never complain. Had I known that my money went straight to someone's private pocket, I wouldn't have paid all those taxes."

Poverty & unemployment

Reduction of inequality, poverty Indonesia's 'best defense'

Jakarta Post - April 5, 2010

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – With globalization favoring certain groups over others within Indonesia's 33 provinces, its population and administration should work hand in hand to reduce inequality and poverty, former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono says.

In an interview here last week, the University of Indonesia's professor of politics and international relations said the most dangerous threat to Indonesia that could tear it apart within 10 to 15 years was discontent stemming from failed development, caused by the widening of economic inequality and increasing poverty levels.

"We can't imagine any countries would attack us nowadays. That's why we can focus our spending on strengthening our social and economic condition. However, as I always said, we must maintain the technological disparity of our military equipment with our neighbors," he said.

If Singapore, for instance, has F-16 jet fighters or submarines then Indonesia also must have F-16s or submarines albeit less of them, so that our neighbors still respect Indonesia's defense capabilities.

With the defense budget totalling Rp 42 trillion this year, a number of observers have said the amount is far from enough to support even basic defense for such a big country.

"We must accept that overcoming disparities in development, fighting corruption at all levels of bureaucracy, and reducing poverty are our main focus rather than the procurement of military equipment.

"After all, we believe that in the final analysis, social justice is a nation's best defense," he said.

Today 34 million Indonesians live on less than US$2 a day, with another 7.5 million openly unemployed, Juwono said.

Access to basic human needs – clean water, healthcare, adequate housing, affordable electricity – is also limited to 10 percent of the population, namely the 25 million Indonesians whose annual income is above $2,000, he said.

Horizontal disparities were in many ways more apparent, with 85 percent of the population living in Western Indonesia and only 15 percent residing east of Bali, he said.

Juwono said disparity and poverty would ultimately create discontent resulting in questioning the central government or even seeking secession through violence or even terrorism.

"One defends the rule of law because one's particular station in life has made it convenient and expedient to be 'part of the system' and one's economic, social and cultural foundations are already sound and secure," he said.

While poverty in itself did not necessarily lead to violent extremes of behavior, its scale and acuteness could often be used by a small minority of misguided extremists to justify violent behavior in defending the destitute and desperate, Juwono said.

"The scope and pace of poverty reduction will affect the manner in which we implement ground-level social binding and peace building," he said.

Islam/religion

Police told to be neutral in handling religious conflicts

Jakarta Post - April 5, 2010

Jakarta – The Setara Institute, a non-profit organization which promotes tolerance and pluralism in Indonesia, has asked the police to have regional morality bylaws deemed threatening pluralism and national unity changed.

"Police should protect all citizens who are discriminated against or are in danger because of their religious beliefs," Setara chief Hendardi said in a media statement.

Setara noted that the police are often powerless in the face of mobs that attack places of worship or members of certain religious sects. In some cases, officers on duty even side with the attackers.

It recorded 39 cases of religious persecution in 2007, 121 cases in 2008 and 48 cases across Indonesia in 2009, in which police were either guilty by commission or omission.

"Many laws addressing religious freedom discriminate against minorities. Unless the laws are reformed, the police will never be able to carry out its duty properly," Hendardi said.

"In cases of religious conflict, the police should act neutrally and stop criminalizing religious beliefs as the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) and intolerant religious groups do."

Islamists in Bogor disrupt otherwise peaceful Good Friday

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

While most Christians peacefully held Good Friday services across the country on Friday, at least 1,000 churchgoers in Pa-rung, Bogor, had to pray at a restaurant after protests by Muslim hard-liners.

A church member told the Jakarta Globe that on Thursday night the congregation held a two-hour service to observe White Thursday under tents erected on the vacant plot of land in Parung where their John the Baptist church was being built.

Gabriel Michael Kia Telok said the Mass ended peacefully, with police helping to direct traffic around the church construction site.

However, some two hours later, a group claiming to belong to the Parung Ulema Forum came and staged a protest rejecting the construction of the church in the area. Gabriel said the protesters claimed the church did not have the necessary construction permits.

The group also threatened to disband forcefully any religious activities held there.

The church originally applied to Bogor authorities for permission to build the church in 1990 but has still not received any response.

"Some 200 young people came to our makeshift chapel and asked us to stop our prayers, which actually were already done. We were terrified, but after they negotiated with our church leaders, the group agreed to move their protest to the Parung district office," Gabriel said.

To ensure the safety of the congregation, the church leaders decided to move the Good Friday service to a building owned by the local education office, but a miscommunication forced them to move the venue again to a restaurant owned by a church member.

"It's not the first time the group has staged a protest. Protests also occurred during Easter celebrations in 2008 and Christmas services in 2009," Gabriel said.

News of the incident spread on microblogging and social networking Web sites, with many offering sympathy and condemning the intimidation. One Facebook user asked: "Is this a permanent incident, as Catholics are not allowed to pray inside their own churches in Bekasi?"

She was referring to an incident last year in which Muslim hard- liners attacked a church under construction in Bekasi. In addition to threats of violence, Indonesian minority religious groups say they face difficulties in obtaining the necessary permits to build places to worship.

According to the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, there were 139 cases of violation of the freedom to worship in Indonesia in 2009.

Sex & morality

Guest Speaker: 'Implementing the porn law will not be easy'

Jakarta Post - April 5, 2010

The Constitutional Court recently gave a nod to one of the most controversial laws in Indonesia's history: the pornography law, promptly igniting rage and criticism from women's and human rights groups. Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika immediately said his region, which depends largely on tourism, would not comply with the law.

But the decision was not without a fight. Maria Farida Indrati, the only female in the panel of nine Constitutional justices, gave a dissenting opinion. She supported the plaintiffs request to review the law on the grounds that it failed to ensure legal certainty for all people. She recently talked to The Jakarta Post's Arghea Desafti Hapsari about her reasons to stand opposed to the law and the consequences of the court's decision. Here are the excerpts of the interview.

Question: What is the most fundamental reason to oppose the pornography law?

Answer: The law's definition of pornography itself is unclear and opens the way for varied interpretations. It says that pornography includes writings, pictures, animations, cartoons, (that contain obscenity or sexual exploitation) and so on, that violate the norms of decency in societies. The question is: in which society?

Indonesia is a very pluralistic country. The societies here have different cultures and different religions, and therefore they have different decency norms. It is possible to have one thing regarded as pornographic in one place but not in another. Now, a law should be applicable anywhere in the country and not be (applied differently) in every city.

There are countries that apply laws on pornography, but the laws don't pose problems for them because. their peoples are homogenous, they hold the same religions and so on. So you cannot take references from other countries.

So the problem with the law is because there are no agreed sets of standards to define pornography?

Exactly. This country is home to everyone from those who (dress) in very conservative clothing to those (whose clothes) are very revealing. Article 4 in the law stipulates that (something is pornographic) when it gives an impression of nudity to the viewers. This does not give a clear boundary. In the article's explanation, depicting nudity is when someone wears body covering but still explicitly shows a genital. In medical terminology, genitals are a penis in males and vagina in females. So, if one wore clothes that covered all her body but not her breasts would that count as porn?

So there are loopholes, at least in terms of regulating which clothing is decent and which is not?

Well, you can say that. The bill for the porn law actually regulated how people dress. But there was huge resistance from the society. When a law faces that much rejection from when it was designed to the time it was deliberated, there has got to be something wrong with it.

But now that the Constitutional Court has decided to keep the law, there are bigger challenges to face: Implementing this law will not be easy.

Can you give us details?

There are issues with how the decency standards are different from one community to another. Also, there are problems with how the law regulates people's participation. Again, these problems root back to the fact that there are different sets of standards, so one might think something is pornographic but others might not. This will result in people taking law enforcement into their own hands.

Furthermore, the implementation of this law will have its impact in the regions. People who are decent and in line with community norms will be pictured as those who wear enveloping clothes. As a result, there will be bylaws that regulate this.

But the makers of this law say that it was designed to protect women and children from exposure to pornography. What do you have to say about that?

Well, (that purpose) is not reflected in the law. Of all the articles, there are only two that mentions child protection, banning people from producing or reproducing child pornography.

This is already regulated in the law on child protection. In fact, there are many things that the porn law regulates that have been regulated in other laws. Are these laws useless? And if the pornography law is implemented, won't it contradict other laws?

Politics/political parties

Megawati again elected PDI-P chairwoman

Jakarta Globe - April 8, 2010

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri was re-elected chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle during the opposition party's national congress in Bali on Thursday.

She will be chairwoman of the party until 2015, after the next legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 2014, increasing the chances she will have another stab at running for president despite two resounding defeats in previous polls.

That likelihood was given further credence with the party's decision not to elect a deputy chairperson, with speculation prior to the congress that the position would be filled by Megawati's daughter Puan Maharani or son Prananda Prabowo.

The party is still expected to elect a secretary general and three deputies.

Mega still on top, PDI-P seeks new blood

Jakarta Post - April 7, 2010

Hans David Tampubolon, Denpasar – Megawati Soekarnoputri looks certain to lead the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for another five years, but the party will look for another figure to contest the 2014 presidential election.

[Megawati] will not run for the presidency. She has stated this several times," senior PDI-P figure Panda Nababan said on the sidelines of the party's national congress at Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday.

Panda said concern over the next generation of the party's leaders was behind the party's plan to groom alternative presidential candidates, not concerns about Megawati's age and her poor showing in the last two presidential races.

The party, he added, would introduce changes to its internal regulations that would focus mainly on the party's leadership growth through systematic political education.

"We will open special schools for our members. The schools will be located in Jakarta and in every provincial branch," he said. Panda said the party would seek a presidential candidate from the dynasty of founding president Sukarno, who is Megawati's father.

"However, being a Sukarno does not guarantee that person will be the PDI-P's nominee for president. The candidate will have to work hard by frequently acknowledging our grassroots constituents," he said.

The PDI-P has nominated Megawati three times for the presidential election. She lost her first race to Nahdlatul Ulama leader Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in 1999 despite her party winning the most seats in the House of Representatives. Megawati became vice president instead.

Megawati became president in 2001 after Gus Dur was impeached for incompetence.

As the incumbent, Megawati lost to her former chief security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the country's first ever direct presidential elections in 2004. The two squared off for the second time last year, with Megawati failing to get enough votes in the first round to advance to the runoff.

PDI-P official Budiman Sudjatmiko said it was premature to start discussing the party's candidate for the 2014 presidential election.

"Grooming the next leader is the key issue in this congress, but the discussion does not concern our future presidential candidate. Instead, the talks focus on the need to allow young figures to lead the party either at regional or central levels," he said.

Another party official, Cepi Budi Mulyawan, said grooming the next leader would ensure the party's future success. "Megawati wants the PDI-P to have a better showing in the next elections," Cepi said. "Therefore, the party needs progressive young people to make her vision come true."

University of Indonesia political communication expert Effendi Gazali said the party's crop of young talent would contribute to the country's efforts to groom future national leaders.

Megawati earlier hinted at kickstarting growth within the PDI-P leadership, saying the congress might create a deputy chairperson post, which many speculate would go to one of her children.

"The discourse on the new post is legitimate but the congress will decide whether we need the post," she said.

Congress to pave way for 'new, modern' party

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2010

Denpasar – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) national congress in Bali will see a transition in the party's paradigm and its leadership, says chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Speaking at a press conference Monday prior to the congress that kicks off Tuesday, Megawati said the PDI-P, officially established in 1998, was "in transition from its period of struggle in the past 12 years" toward modernizing in terms of human resources, consolidation and regeneration.

"This meeting will be a transitional congress," Megawati said. She added the change would come by promoting young members and preparing strong party leaders for the future.

Also at the press conference were Megawati's husband, Taufik Kiemas, their children, Prananda Prabowo and Puan Maharani, their niece, Puti Guntur Soekarnoputri, and PDI-P secretary-general Pramono Anung.

The four-day congress will also hold a vote for chairperson, which Megawati is almost certain to win. She said participants would be split into three commissions during the congress to discuss internal issues such as human resources management, internal consolidation and party programs, including approach strategies for the 2014 general elections.

Also up for grabs will be seats on the party's central executive board, which Megawati said she hoped would include "young and talented" party members. "Whether Puan or Prananda are voted onto the executive board will depend on the congress," she said.

Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi told The Jakarta Post that although Megawati remained a key figurehead for the PDI-P, her re-election could be detrimental to the party.

"For one, it would render useless any attempts at regeneration within the party," he said. "Pragmatically, Megawati's persona is overpowering, so even if she stepped down, the chair would still go to someone from her family. This would further reinforce the talk of a dynasty within the PDI-P," he went on.

"And by re-electing Megawati, the PDI-P will also kiss goodbye to any chance it has of winning the 2014 elections. The previous polls clearly showed that while Megawati might have been popular among the PDI-P's grassroots voters, she tends to alienate swing voters, which is most voters," Burhanuddin said.

Megawati's brother tells her to step down and rest

Jakarta Globe - April 6, 2010

Guruh Sukarnoputra held a news conference on Tuesday to urge his sister, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, to "take a rest" and stand aside as chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and make way for new blood – himself.

Speaking in Sanur, Bali, near the venue of the party's national congress, Guruh said he believed that like Suharto in 1998 when he wanted to step down but was pushed by supporters to continue his rule, Megawati was facing the same pressures, despite the fact she was growing tired.

Suharto did step down in January 1998, but Guruh said Megawati had bowed to some senior members of the party who continued to encourage Megawati to again stand.

"People close to her always push her and tell her that many people still want her to become the chairwoman," he said.

Guruh, who gained some prominence as a choreographer before embarking on a political career that failed to scale anything close to spectacular heights, advised his sister to take a break from politics. "I advise Mbak Mega to take a rest and I will carry on," he said.

He also criticized "the unfairness of the party elites" who blocked him from being a candidate for chairperson for the 2010-2015 term. "There was intimidation to vote for a single candidate and money politics was involved," he alleged.

Supporters say Megawati secure in PDI-P perch

Jakarta Globe - April 4, 2010

Made Arya Kencana & Anita Rachman – Supporters of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle leader Megawati Sukarnopoutri claimed she was a shoe-in to retain her post as chairwoman when her leadership is put to the vote at the party's annual congress to be held in Bali this week.

"A total of 495 party branches and 33 local boards have directed their votes to Mega," said Puan Maharani, Megawati's daughter. "There is no possibility whatsoever for any other candidate to chair the party," she said.

Puan is chairing the committee for the congress of the party, also known as the PDI-P, to be held from Tuesday to Friday.

"The party will go dizzy if she refuses to chair it, and she will end up chairing it," PDI-P lawmaker Maruarar Sirait said.

The congress will be attended by top politicians including former Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. Megawati's younger brother Guruh Sukarnoputra put his hand up last year to run for the PDI-P's top post, although it is widely expected that Megawati will be re-elected.

The question of who will take over the leadership from Megawati when she eventually retires, however, has sparked persistent speculation.

Cecep Effendi, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that if the PDI-P re-elected Megawati to another term it would demonstrate the party's failure to create a new generation of leaders.

"If they come up with the same strategy as the did in [the] 2004 and 2009 [presidential elections] they will fail. Megawati doesn't sell anymore. Their votes are diminishing," Cecep said. "If PDI-P wants to dominate the 2014 election, they should give the position of chairperson to a new, more popular leader."

Puan, Megawati's daughter with husband Taufik Kiemas, a senior PDI-P member and speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), is widely believed to be the heir apparent to take over the party.

Puan is running against her half-brother Prananda Prabowo, Megawati's son with her fist husband, for the new role of deputy chair of the party. However, some believe a more viable candidate for the future would be seasoned politician Pramono Anung, the PDI-P's secretary general.

Megawati opted to run for president with Hasyim Muzadi, former chairman of the 40 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, for the 2004 presidential elections, which she lost to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In the 2009 elections, she ran as a presidential hopeful with former Army Gen. Prabowo Subianto, the leader of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). Once again, she lost to Yudhoyono. "She should be aware by now that her time has passed," Cecep said.

However, Maruarar said Megawati was the ultimate unifier. "There is no one like her," he said, adding that he was confident she will still sell as a presidential candidate in 2014.

"Look how consistent we have been in the PT Bank Century scandal. People do not forget. We said no to all temptations!" Maruarar said, referring to the PDI-P's refusal to adopt a softer stance during the bailout probe.

Experts say candidates for Democratic helm fall short

Jakarta Globe - April 2, 2010

Anita Rachman & Nurfika Osman – Political analysts don't see anyone among the current figures gunning for chairmanship of the Democratic Party capable of filling President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's shoes.

Three names have dominated coverage of the race to chair the Democratic Party: House Speaker Marzuki Alie, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng, and the Democrats' House faction leader, Anas Urbaningrum.

Last Sunday, Andi formally announced his candidacy for chairman, which will be decided at the party's national congress in May. Present at Andi's campaign launch was the president's son, lawmaker Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, who said the candidate was the right man to lead the Democrats.

But Lili Romli, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said on Friday that party cadres and sympathizers would expect someone with the qualities of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to run the party and join the presidential race in 2014. And the three candidates so far are all less experienced than the president.

"This is indeed a challenge for all candidates: People are expecting someone like Pak SBY," he said. "However, it is too early to state who is the toughest candidate of all, and who likely could best rule the party."

Arbi Sanit, a political expert at the University of Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe that the Democrats needed someone not only to lead the party but to develop it, and none of the three candidates had that quality.

"All of them are way out of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's league and they are definitely not going to dominate the 2014 election," he said. "Someone who has good managerial skills is needed, as the party is still lacking this."

Democrat Pieter Zulkifli, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees legal and political affairs, also said he and several of his colleagues had not seen anyone who was strong enough to take on the party mantle.

"Whoever the candidate is, should have a strong character, strong integrity, morals, dedication to the job, and the most important thing is to have a good managerial system," Pieter said.

He said he thought someone from the military would be able to lead the party, as Democrats needed someone with good managerial skills to handle the many tough tasks in the country.

"Partnering the leader from military with someone from a civilian background seems to be good," he said.

Legislation & parliament

Lawmakers urged to shift attention to making laws

Jakarta Globe - April 4, 2010

Anita Rachman – Forming special committees to investigate corruption scandals is understandable, but for lawmakers to meanwhile neglect their main duty of debating and passing bills is ridiculous, analysts and lawmakers said on Sunday.

"They [House of Representatives] have had a break for a month and they begin work Monday [today], so no more excuses for these legislators. They have received 70 bills to deliberate and pass into law by the end of this year. Nothing has been done," Sebastian Salang, chairman of Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Parliament (Formappi), told the Jakarta Globe.

"Our lawmakers are very ambitious people," he said. "They say they will pass 70 bills by the end of 2010. They need to balance the roles they play, including when it comes to setting up special committees."

The House is back in session today. The month-long break for legislators came after two months of intensive investigations into the Rp 6.7 trillion ($737 million) Bank Century scandal by a House special committee.

"They seem to have forgotten their role of deliberating bills and passing them into law. I believe they will end up passing just 24 bills by the end of the year," Sebastian said.

On Friday, House deputy speaker Anis Matta urged the creation of a new special committee to look into the nation's taxation system.

"There is a list of priority bills that need to be passed, including the state administration bill that focuses on bureaucratic reform. Corruption cases can be cut down with bureaucratic reform in state institutions. For that reason alone, the state administration bill is a priority," Sebastian said.

Of the 70 bills targeted, 38 were drafted on the House's initiative, while the remaining 32 were proposed by the government.

Ronald Rofiandri, of the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies, said he had low expectations based on past performance. He noted that the legislature elected in 2004 only passed 14 of the 55 bills proposed in its first year.

"A bill that needs to be a priority is legal aid for the poor. But so far, I believe they are only focusing on investigations through special committees," Ronald said. He said the special committee process itself is fraught with opportunities for corruption and serving special interests.

Lawmaker Lily Wahid, of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said she would consider it an extraordinary achievement if the House managed to pass 75 percent of the 70 bills.

Ignatius Mulyono, chairman of the House Legislation Body, said he believed the House would, at best, pass just 40 bills into law this year. "It is impossible if they believe passing bills into law is a part-time job. The process needs detailed considerations and affects the entire nation," Ignatius said.

Economy & investment

Indonesia stocks near record high

Reuters - April 1, 2010

Indonesia stocks approached a record high on Thursday after inflation data stoked expectations the central bank will keep its interest rate at a record-low next week, while Thai stocks hit a fresh 22-month high.

Analysts said they expected further stock market gains in Southeast Asia's two biggest economies, citing scattered signs of economic strength, solid earnings growth and relatively benign price pressures underscored by data on Thursday.

Nick Cashmore, Indonesia country head at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, said the rise in Indonesia's stock index did not mean its stocks were overvalued.

"It still has the opportunity to grow," Cashmore said, citing strength in domestic demand and commodity prices across the resource-rich Indonesian archipelago.

Data released on Thursday showed Indonesia's annual inflation slowing in March to a below-forecast 3.43 percent, adding to its aura as an emerging market darling bestowed with low rates, subdued inflation, strong growth and political stability.

At 0800 GMT, Indonesia's benchmark stock index was up 1.83 percent at 2,828.05, just shy of a record 2,838.47 set on Jan 14, 2008, and building on last year's nearly 90 percent gain.

The rally in Jakarta pushed its gains for the year to 11.5 percent, Asia's best performer. Investors snapped up stocks seen as beneficiaries of domestic growth, pushing Astra International up 5.5 percent. Both stocks hit record highs.

Ikhsan Binarto, a market analyst at PT Optima Sekuritas, however, expects the index to add up to 25 percent by year-end.

Government bond yields were little changed after the inflation data. Ten-year Indonesian debt yielded 9.10 percent. The rupiah, Asia's second-strongest currency this year after Malaysia's ringgit, firmed to 9,057 per dollar from 9,072.

Against its Southeast Asian peers, Indonesia looks pricey. Its stocks trade at 14 times estimated 2011 earnings, cheaper than Malaysia's 15.7 times but more expensive than the Philippines at 13.1 and Thailand's 11.6, which is still Asia's second-cheapest after Pakistan despite a month of foreign fund-driven gains, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Analysis & opinion

Transmigrasi redux in Papua

Sydney Morning Herald Editorial - April 5, 2010

The news that Indonesia's government is planning a vast new agricultural project in the south-eastern corner of its Papuan region is a disturbing one, suggesting that its officials have learnt nothing from the disastrous mistakes of the Suharto-era "transmigrasi" scheme. The current respite from tensions in bilateral relationships, caused by Papuans fleeing across borders into Papua New Guinea and Australia and raising the separatist cause, could be a temporary one.

It may be recalled that transmigration set out, from the 1960s, to move hundreds of thousands of people from the least fertile, most overcrowded districts of the central islands of Java and Bali to the less-populated outer islands, including Papua. The dream of turning forest into intensive rice farms soon came up with the reality of leached soil, erosion and water problems. Settlers were stranded with insufficient help to get started, and drifted into towns. Apparently "unoccupied" land turned out to have traditional owners after all, who turned hostile.

Nor was this the best way of employing Java's "surplus" population: the rapid expansion of light manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s did a much happier job of that. Savage attacks on transmigrants by the indigenous Dayak peoples of Kalimantan were among the first signals that the Suharto grip on the country was weakening.

The proposed development in Papua's Merauke region raises many of the same issues. It assumes that up to 2.5 million hectares of land already cleared of its original forest is available for planting, without environmental damage. This appears to be wildly optimistic, both on the amount of open land and its fertility. Second, officials suggest that as many as 625,000 new settlers could be added to the present 175,000 population.

How this could be carried out, without Papuans feeling even more desperately that they are set for the same marginalised fate as Australia's Aborigines or New Zealand's Maori, defies belief. The murky politics of Papua, divided into two provinces since the late President Abdurrahman Wahid's autonomy initiative a decade ago and still an unreformed regional military command, mean the conditional approval of the Papuan Governor, Barnabas Suebu, can't be taken as any sound local consent.

While the intention of improving Indonesia's food supply is no doubt genuine, there must be sounder ways than aiming for national self-sufficiency in one big hit on such dubious environmental and social assumptions. As a nation-binding effort it would be counter-productive. Jakarta would win more thanks helping Merauke's local people in the kind of small-holder tree- cropping that is thriving just across the border.

Who will police the police?

Jakarta Post Editorial - April 5, 2010

After waiting for some time, we finally heard encouraging news coming from the National Police that they at last moved against police generals suspected to be behind case tampering involving potentially millions of dollars in tax bribes.

The National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri removed last week Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas from his post as Lampung Police chief and transferred him to a non-line-management position at headquarters. The move, however, came too little, too late.

It's too late because it took some time for the police to go after the generals implicated in the case.

It's too late especially if we compare it with the move taken by the finance minister who immediately fired Gayus Tambunan, the tax officer at the center of the Rp 28 billion ($3.08 million) tax bribery scandal, while suspending 10 of his superiors soon after the case emerged.

It's too little because the other general named in the case tampering case, Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, is still untouched. Raja, who replaced Edmond as financial crimes director when the later was moved to Lampung, is said to be responsible for unfreezing Gayus' bank account. According to former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the first person uncovering the scandal, this money was then distributed to a number of parties, including police officers.

There are already concerns that the police might limit the pursuit of this case tampering to lower level police officers such as those already named as suspects in this case, who are all holding lower positions, so far.

We question if the police would really go deep into the case, especially if this involved higher ranking police officers.

But what worries us is the possibility that this tax case tampering by the police is just the tip of an iceberg. It is no secret that many high-ranking police officers would earn more than their official income by moonlighting and bad practices, and not from their salaries.

And it is even more saddening to learn about possible bad practices by higher-ranking officers demanding "contributions" from their subordinates, who would then be compelled to find even illegal ways to raise this money. Susno revealed that these bad practices stopped for a while when Sutanto was National Police chief.

The core of the problem is that there is no credible institution able to supervise the police. True, we have the National Police Commission, which is supposed to control the police, but everyone knows that this commission has no teeth and therefore no bite. Worse, it lacks credibility.

The only institution now able to control the police is the presidency as the police are an independent body under the President. But we cannot expect the President to carry out day-to-day oversight functions. Without a proper control and supervision system, we cannot expect our police to abandon bad practices. Without any proper control system, even a good and deep reform would not stay in place or be effective for long. So who will police the police force? And who will force the police to take notice of this?

There are surely several alternative ways to install a credible control and supervision system for the police.

One is by empowering the existing National Police Commission by amending the law governing this commission. After that, we need to recruit credible people to be its members.

Another way would be to make a more drastic move by placing the police under the home affairs minister and provincial governors. This way, the representatives of the executive – the minister and governors – could devise better systems to supervise the police, and would be accountable to the public.

Of course, each possible system has pluses and minuses. What is needed is to pick the best system that would lend credibility to the police by cleaning up existing ill-practices and improving their services to the public. In the end and one way or another the police have to be accountable to the people. We cannot expect the police to police themselves any longer.