GATHERINGS: An informed guide to happenings throughout the region.

Barack Obama’s statue to be removed from Jakarta park
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 9: Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo says a statue of President Barack Obama will be removed from a public park and relocated to an elementary school that Obama attended as a child.
The decision follows a petition that began circulation to have a statue of Barack Obama as a boy demolished only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.
The statue of “Little Barry” - as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s - stands in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the president's former elementary school.
The petitioners say the site should have been used to honour an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a Facebook page calling for the statue’s removal.
We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it. We're finding the best solution,” said Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.
Obama, who was born in Hawaii, lived for four years as a child in Jakarta from 1967 after his divorced mother married an Indonesian.
“Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and (expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living as an American," the web page says.
“For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately.”
The Southeast Asian Times

West Papua celebrates arrival of Christianity
From News Reports:
Jayapura, February 8: Tens of thousands of people have arrived on Mansinam Island in Manokwari, West Papua, to commemorate the arrival of the first Christian missionaries 155 years ago, reports kompas.com has reported.
The news portal says the gathering was also attended by Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu, West Papua Governor Abraham O Atururi, West Papua Legislative Council Speaker Johan Auri, Papua Military Chief Major General Hotma Marbun, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Bekto Suprapto, and Papua Prosecutor's Office Chief Palty Simanjuntak.
February 5th is a public holiday in Papua and West Papua provinces, which marks the date when two missionaries, Carl Wilhelm Ottow and Johann Gottlob Geissler, arrived on the island in 1885.
The Southeast Asian Times

Darwin to Ambon race scheduled for July
From News Reports:
Ambon, February 7: About 200 yachts are expected to set sail from Darwin in July as part of a race to Banda, Ambon and Southeast Sulawesi.
The event, which will include international and national conferences and an international symposium, marks the resumption of the 600 nautical mile race from Darwin to Amahusu village in Ambon harbour after it was abandoned from 1998 because of sectarian violence in the Spice Islands.
The fleet then cruises west to Sulawesi through the Buton Passage.
“The Maluku provincial government has provided rupiah 12 billion for the event,” Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry director general for resource supervision Aji Sularso said during the Sail Banda 2010 launch in Jakarta last week.
The event was intended to make Maluku a tourism gateway to eastern Indonesia by promoting its historical and maritime beauty, he said.
The Southeast Asian Times

Regent’s wives to contest ballot to replace him
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 6: Two wives of Kediri east Java Regent Sutrisno have announced their intention to contest the election later this year to replace their husband, who cannot run for another term because he has served twice.
The Jakarta Post says Sutrisno’s second wife, Nurlaila, claims to have secured support from the National Mandate Party and 23 other parties, while first wife Harjanti will represent the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
“This is my personal plan, and has nothing to do with the incumbent,” Nurlaila told tempointeraktif.com.
Nurlaila openly criticised her husband’s performance in improving agriculture, health and education in his 10 years of administration.
Sutrisno has been elected Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Kediri chairman.
The Southeast Asian Times

Singapore political candidate allowed new association
From News Reports:
Singapore, February 5: Former Workers Party election candidate James Gomez has received official approval to register Singaporeans for Democracy a new association after it agreed to changes to its Constitution.
The changes reportedly prohibit the new association from receiving money from outside Singapore; allowing foreigners to participate in its events; affiliate with any Singapore or foreign political party and operate as a political party.
It is also not allowed to use its funds, premises and new media platforms in any election here, including the sponsoring of any candidate or member.
The Straits Times quotes Dr Gomez as saying: “We were fully cognizant of these requirements so there were no surprises. The changes will not affect our operations.”
The Southeast Asian Times

Historic photographs go on display
From News Reports:
Kota Kinabalu, February 4: About 2,000 photographs taken by George Cathcart Woolley, a North Borneo Chartered Company officer, who travelled throughout what is now Sabah between 1901 and 1932are on display at the Sabah Museum.
Mr Woolley, who died in Kota Kinabalu 1947, bequeathed all the images to the Sabah Philosophical Society - now the Sabah Society.
A graduate of Queens College at Oxford University, Woolley returned to England on his retirement from the North Borneo Company in 1932, but decided to return in 1935.
“The images taken by Woolley are invaluable considering that many pictures of pre-independence Sabah were destroyed during World War 11,” Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said when launching the exhibition.
Mr Woolley's diaries are also on display.
The Southeast Asian Times

Pushkin now stands in Manila park
From News Reports:
Manila, February 3: A bronze statue of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin has been unveiled in the Mehan Gardens, Manila.
Its sculptor Grigory Potosky was present at the ceremony.
So too were Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Vorobiev; Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Administration Franklin Ebdalin and Senate Secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes.
Manila mayor Alfredo Lim compared Pushkin with Filipino national poet Francisco Balagtas.
Both were revolutionaries who influenced their country’s literature by the use of vernacular in their work, he said.
Moscow’s envoy to Manila said that Pushkin defined the Russian language and that the unveiling of his statue was a symbol of the friendship between the two peoples.
The Southeast Asian Times

George Burchett exhibition to open
An exhibition of Ma, ink, on newspaper by George Burchett will begin at the Mori Gallery, 168 Day Street, Sydney, between 6 – 8 pm tomorrow night.
Titled time / lines, it will be opened by John Pilger with a musical performance by Jon Rose.
The exhibition will continue until Wednesday, February 24.
The Southeast Asian Times

Habibie receives honorary doctorate
From News Reports:
The University of Indonesia has bestowed former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, 74, with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy.
Kompas.com quotes university rector Gumilar Rusmiwa Sumantri, who delivered the honour, as saying the man who succeeded President Soeharto “keeps reminding us of the importance of ethical consideration in effect of the appliance of technology in society.” The German-trained professor of aerospace engineering served as Indonesia’s president between 1998 and 1999.
Earlier last month, the former chairman of the Muslim Intellectuals Association called for halt to the legal process against former president Soeharto.
The Southeast Asian Times

Hong Kong new centre for British passports
From News Reports:
Petaling Jaya, January 31: British citizens residing in Malaysia will have to collect any new passports from a regional centre in Hong Kong rather than the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur from tomorrow.
The High Commission says on its website that the change is part of a global initiative to streamline the overseas passport operations and reduce administration costs, while improving security and maintaining the quality of customer service.
It says applications will be completed within 10 working days after receiving the correct documentation and fee.
The web site quotes High Commissioner Boyd McCleary as saying the commission remained committed to ensure passports were issued promptly and efficiently.
“I am confident that the current high quality of customer service will continue,” he said.
The High Commission processed over 2,000 British passport applications last year.
It is estimated that there are around 8,000 British residents in Malaysia, while
435,000 Britons visited Malaysia last year.
The Southeast Asian Times

Rent-a-crowds allegedly recruited for protests
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 30: Bogus protesters in Jakarta are paid about rupiah 25,000, about US$2.6 a day, reports The Jakarta Post.
“I participated in this event…a protest against the State’s refinancing of insolvent Bank Century… because one of my friends asked me to. I am being paid rupiah 25,000, enough to buy cigarettes for today,” the newspaper quotes Hendri, 23, a protester from Johar Baru, Central Jakarta.
Biyan, 19, from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, said: “I'm just here as an extra. I will be paid rupiah 20,000 in exchange through.”
But protest coordinator Laode Kamaludin said: “The protesters all join voluntarily. That they are paid is just a rumor spread by people to discredit our movement.”
The Jakarta Post also quotes Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as saying she had submitted all the data requested by the House of Representatives committee inquiring into the rescue of Bank Century.
The ministry would cooperate with the committee should its members require more data about the $716 million decision to rescue the bank in November 2008.
The Southeast Asian Times

Petitioners want Obama statue removed
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 29: A petition has been circulated to have a statue of Barack Obama as a boy demolished only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta.
The statue of “Little Barry” - as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s - stands in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the president's former elementary school.
The petitioners say the site should have been used to honour an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a Facebook page calling for the statue’s removal.
We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it. We're finding the best solution,” said Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said.
Obama, who was born in Hawaii, lived for four years as a child in Jakarta from 1967 after his divorced mother married an Indonesian.
“Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and (expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living as an American," the web page says.
“For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately.”
The Southeast Asian Times

Washingtons's envoy quietly leaves Manila
From News Reports:
Manila, January 28: Washington’s envoy to Manila Kristie Kenney has left the Philippines without fanfare.
Dressed in a shirt and jeans and accompanied by two house help who carried her two cats, for her to board a Northwest Airlines flight at 8:20 am Monday morning.
A staffer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport told reporters that it had been the ambassador’s choice not to notify the media about her departure.
Kenney was her country’s ambassador to Manila for three and a half years.
In February last year, the flood of Filipino World War II veterans lodging claims for newly-approved benefits has prompted her to ask them to limit their entourage of family members when making their applications.
And the envoy’s message to those among the 18,000 surviving Filipino veterans too old and weak to personally lodge their claims to part of the $198-million payment from the United States government: “We will find you and come to you.”
“If you are not well, don’t risk your life coming to us,” she said.
The United States Veterans Affairs Department will accept applications up to February this year.
The Southeast Asian Times

Walden Bello accuses church of double standards
From News Reports:
Manila, January 27: The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines was practicing a double standard when it tells the people to follow their conscience to choose the country’s new political representatives while at the same time it tells them not to vote for those candidates that support the reproductive health bill, Akbayan, or Citizen’s Action Party, House-of-Representatives-member Walden Bello, 64, has told reporters.
“On the one hand, [the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines] has said vote according to your conscience,” said the professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines.
“On the other, it says it’s not moral to vote for people who support the reproductive health bill. There is a double standard here.”
Professor Belo said the church should not blackmail the candidates who support the bill by trying to influence their voters based on this issue, which has proven to be very contentious.
He asked that his fellow House-of-Representatives members tackle the measure despite the Church’s opposition and its branding of the bill as morally reprehensible.
“What is morally reprehensible is to keep the reproductive rights of Filipinas at the mercy of the church’s political opinion,” he said.
“Does it sit well with our conscience that families are condemned to poverty owing to the lack of means for effective family planning? Or that there are rising numbers of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases due to the lack of decent information?” the professor asked.
Professor Bello said the House of Representatives should devote the remainder of its tenure to discussion of the bill rather than trying to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
The Southeast Asian Times

Muslim Banda Aceh seeks tourists
From News Reports:
Banda Aceh, January 26: The provincial capital’s deputy Mayor Illiza Saadudin believes Sharia law could help market the tourism industry.
The city’s numerous historical sites that are linked to Islam’s arrival in the Indonesian archipelago could help with the promotion, she told The Jakarta Post.
“We aim to tailor tourist packages that are different to those of other provinces. One of those is to promote tourist attractions with an Islamic perspective,” she said.
“I’m sure that many people will visit Banda Aceh to learn about Islamic history and the tsunami.”
Muslim students affiliated with the Indonesian Muslim Students Union are reported to support the effort.
The Southeast Asian Times

Students arrested demanding right to demonstrate
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 25: Nine students from five public tertiary institutions were arrested Saturday for participating in an illegal assembly and obstructing police from carrying out their duties.
Kuala Lumpur police Chief Wira Muhammad Sabtu Osman told The Star newspaper that four were from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; two from Kolej Islam Selangor and one each from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti of Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
The students were being investigated in accordance with Section 27(5) of the Police Act for gathering illegally and Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties.
They were arrested in front of Sogo shopping complex at around noon after refusing to disperse despite being ordered to do so, he said when contacted.
About 200 students participated in the demonstration with some of them carrying banners with the words “kembalikan demonstrasi kampus” or restore campus demonstrations.
Last week, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin announced that the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or UKM, was to host the first returned Speakers Corner.
All universities had the prerogative to establish a speaker’s corner, he said.
This included private universities and university colleges.
The ministry would not impose any guidelines for the speaker’s corners and students were free to speak on any topic as long as they took note of sensitivities and upheld the truth.
“We believe that varsity students will develop a sense of responsibility and grow in maturity, accountability and confidence as all eyes will be on them when they speak,” he said.
Malaysia’s first speaker’s corner for varsity students was housed at Universiti Malaya in the 70s.
The Southeast Asian Times

Illegal motorbike racer film proves profitable
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 24: The Mat Rempit, or illegal motorbike racing, film Adnan Sempit has unexpectedly netted ringgit 510,000, about US$150,220, in revenue when it opened on Thursday, January 14.
Its takings on Saturday, January 16 was ringgit 950,000, a new record for a Malaysian movie.
The film was produced by Metrowealth Movies and directed by Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri.
Its chief executive officer David Teo told The New Straits Times that although guidelines governing the portrayal of Mat Rempit were now stricter “I knew the film was going to be a hit but this is beyond my expectations.”
Adnan Sempit is the first movie to feature a Mat Rempit, after last year's government announcement of stricter guidelines for filmmakers on showcasing illegal racing activities in movies.
The National Censor had directed that movie makers cannot show illegal racing unless the characters redeemed themselves in the end.
The Southeast Asian Times

Speaker’s Corner returns to Malaysia
From News Reports:
Bangi, January 23: The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, or UKM, is to host a returned Speakers Corner.
The Star newspaper quotes Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin as saying that each university had the prerogative to establish a speaker’s corner.
This included private universities and university colleges.
The ministry would not impose any guidelines for the speaker’s corners and students were free to speak on any topic as long as they took note of sensitivities and upheld the truth.
“We believe that varsity students will develop a sense of responsibility and grow in maturity, accountability and confidence as all eyes will be on them when they speak,” he said.
Malaysia’s first speaker’s corner for varsity students was housed at Universiti Malaya in the 70s.
The Southeast Asian Times

Beach vendors clean Kuta Beach
From News Reports:
Denpasar, January 21: Beach masseurs and proprietors of surfboard; food and souvenir kiosks have joined the effort to remove seasonal garbage from Kuta Beach.
Rotten fish, timber, grass and plastics have washed onto the tourist beach o since November 2008.
“The worst garbage will be in January and February,” said beach security task forced director Gusti Ngurah Trisna.
But beach vendors are prepared to work daily to clean up the beach until March when the arrival of the rubbish was expected to stop.
Beach noodle vendor Ruslan, 81, said he had seen the yearly garbage and rotten fish collect on the beach for the last 10 years but still did not know where it came from.
Many people believed that fishermen were to be blamed for throwing the fish they do not manage to load on their boats overboard but others argue that there is a booming of poisonous algae in the sea that has killed the fish.
The Southeast Asian Times

Dr Mahathir’s ‘Look East’ policy proves a winner
From News Reports:
Shah Alam, January 20: The “Look East” policy introduced by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed in 1982 has been crucial to the success of the programme to send Malaysians to study in Japan, argues Universiti Malaya Pro-Chancellor Toh Puan Dr Aishah Ong.
The policy had resulted in 2,986 UM graduates furthering their studies and undergoing training in Japan to emulate Japanese work ethics and also business techniques, she said.
“Under the policy, Malaysia strengthened its cooperation with Japan in the economic, industrial, technological training, academic, research and management fields.
“The success of the policy prompted the Japanese government to increase the intake of Malaysian students in universities in Japan,” the pro-chancellor told a dinner to honour students who had completed a special preparatory course for study in Japan.
Almost 3,000 students had furthered their studies in Japan, particularly in the fields of engineering, medicine and dentistry since Japan established the programme in 1982.
The Southeast Asian Times

Mindanao peace pledge signed in Penang
From News Reports:
Penang, January 19: Presidents of Mindanao state universities and colleges have signed a declaration for peace at the end of a four-day Peace Summit.
The declaration, signed at the Parkroyal Hotel in Battu Ferringhi, Penang, commits the signatories to a variety of pledges including:
The promotion of peace education; the undertaking of peace education programmes and recommending to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that she issue an executive order for the observance of Muslim and Indigenous People, or Lumad, holidays throughout Mindanao.
At least 30 Mindanao State university and college presidents attended the four-day “Mindanao Educators Peace Summit.”
Theme of the conference was: “Transforming the Conflict in Mindanao Through Peace Education and Quality Higher Education.”
It was held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, or the Science University of Malaysia, and has been jointly organized by the faculty for Research and Education for Peace; the Southeast Asia Conflict Network; the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Coordinator was Western Mindanao State University President Dr Grace J. Rebollos.
The purpose of the summit was to “help harness educational leadership for peace and development in the Southern Philippines by providing a venue for conversation – analysis, visioning, and action - towards peace education.”
It is also intended to provide an opportunity for learning from the performance of a leading Asian centre of academic institutional excellence towards affordable quality higher education as a contribution to peace in Mindanao.
The Southeast Asian Times

Thailand, Laos discuss road link
From News Reports:
Da Nang, January 18: The Thai and Laotian foreign minister have discussed the use of Route 9 that links the Mekong sub region nations, particularly the possibility of single-visa access to the Thai-Lao-Viet Nam road link.
The ministers Kasit Piromya and Thongloun Sisoulith met during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign minister retreat in Da Nang, Viet Nam, last week.
Asean Connectivity was a major theme of the conference
The Thai News Agency reports that Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan travelled Route 9 to access the road before attending the retreat.
The 1,600-kilometre East–West Economic Corridor – the formal name for Route 9 - links the South China Sea to the Andaman Sea.
Its construction is intended to reduce the cost of trans-boundary trade and transportation, promoting tourism, trade and investment across the borders, as well as reducing the sub-regional economic and social gap.
The Southeast Asian Times

Tourists prevent turtles from egg laying
Phuket, January 17: Too-much tourism is stopping sea turtles from laying eggs on Phuket's Mai Khao Beach, Phuket Marine Biological Centre representative Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong has told The Nation newspaper.
Turtles normally laid eggs between November and March and this year there were 15 nests in Phang Nga's Thai Muang Beach and Phra Thong Island, he said.
Two of the nests were those of the almost extinct leatherback turtles.
It was also the first time that sea turtles have laid eggs in Krabi's Lanta and Phai islands. But no eggs had been laid in Phuket's Mai Khao Beach because the tourists were driving the turtles away.
The Southeast Asian Times

Closed-door meet to discuss the use of the word ‘Allah’
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 16: The Institute of Islamic Understanding, Malaysia, will hold a closed-door muzakarah pakar, or expert discussion, about non-Muslims using the word “Allah” next Thursday.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Mashitah Ibrahim told The New Straits Times that a closed-door gathering was deemed more suitable than an open forum for the discussion.
But the judiciary would finally resolve the use of the word “Allah” as a synonymy for “God” in its Malay-language editions of the Roman Catholic weekly, the Herald.
In Britain, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has told students at a gathering sponsored by the Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies that Malaysia continues to face great challenges in promoting religious tolerance and maintaining religious harmony.
No religion condones violence as a means to pursue an essentially religious objective, he said during an address titled, Islam and Critical Challenges in Multi-Religious Malaysia.
But “we cannot let unbridled freedom of religion to cause discord and animosity in a multi-religious society like Malaysia.
“Just as I speak here today, there is a hue and cry among the Muslim community in Malaysia over a High Court ruling which allows a Christian publication to use the word ‘Allah’ in its newsletter, he said.
“No matter what our personal view is on this issue, whether we think that it is the right of the Christians to use the word 'Allah' to refer to the Christian god, or it is the exclusive right of the Muslims to claim possession of the word, we have to acknowledge that such an incident causes discord in a multi religious country like Malaysia.
“The combined effect of these competing interests, if not properly managed, is hatred and animosity among religious communities,” he said.
The deputy prime minister said that he had received messages from his non- Muslim friends from Sabah and Sarawak which said that there were Christians who felt that the dispute would not have happened in the first place if "we, the Christians would just not use the word ‘Allah.’
The Southeast Asian Times

Mindanao Educators discuss peace at Penang meet
From News Reports:
Penang, January 15: At least 30 state university and college presidents on Mindanao are attending the four-day “Mindanao Educators Peace Summit” that ends today.
Theme of the conference is: “Transforming the Conflict in Mindanao Through Peace Education and Quality Higher Education.”
It is being held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, or the Science University of Malaysia, and has been jointly organized by the faculty for Research and Education for Peace; the Southeast Asia Conflict Network; the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Mindanao Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Coordinator is Western Mindanao State University President Dr Grace J. Rebollos.
Mindanews reports that the purpose of the summit is to “help harness educational leadership for peace and development in the Southern Philippines by providing a venue for conversation – analysis, visioning, and action - towards peace education.”
It is also intended to provide an opportunity for learning from the performance of a leading Asian centre of academic institutional excellence towards affordable quality higher education as a contribution to peace in Mindanao.
The Southeast Asian Times

Constitutional Court asked
to curb censorship
From News Reports:
Sydney, January 14: The Sydney-based Australia West Papua Association wants the Indonesian Constitutional Court to revoke the authority of the Attorney General’s Office to ban books in the country.
The books banned deal with a variety of issues including West Papua and the association’s secretary, Joe Collins, quotes Justice and Human Rights Department director Hafid Abbas as saying the books could “fuel movements toward the nation's disintegration and encourage” separatism.
“We do not want to see Indonesia separated,” and “that separatists know the hardship of armed resistance so they chose to do their campaign through publications.”
“Is Indonesia's democracy so ‘fragile’ that it cannot allow the raising of the West Papuan Flag and ‘books’ on the issue of West Papua? Asked Mr Collins.
“The banning of freedom of expression is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“Instead of banning books on West Papua the Indonesian government should be allowing the West Papuan people to discuss human rights and self determination in their country.” Indonesian prosecutors in Jayapura seized 60 copies of a book they say could divide West Papua in December 2007.
The 244-page book, titled Tenggelamnya Rumpun Melanesia, Pertarungan Politik di Pap Asian Timesua Barat or The Sinking of the Melanesian Race: The Political Struggle in West Papua, was written by academic, Sendius Wonda.
“The book is misleading, it could spark unrest and divide the Papuan community,” the provincial prosecutor’s office intelligence chief Rudi Hartono was quoted as saying.
The 60 copies of the book, printed by provincial publishing house Deiyai, were confiscated from a Gramedia bookstore in Jayapura.”
“We will continue raiding bookstores in other places for the book,” Rudi said.
The prosecutors said their legal basis for banning the book was a 2007 attorney general's circular about banning printed materials that could “mislead the public” and “disturb public order.”
The Southeast Asian Times

Indonesia returns to the banning of books
From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 13: University of Indonesia historian Dr Anhar Gonggong likens a spate of book bannings as a sad attack on the right to free speech.
“Only authoritarian regimes justify the banning of publications by citing the need to maintain order,” he told The Jakarta Post.
“That has been happening in our country, since the colonial era.”
But previously prohibited reappeared following the fall of President Soeharto in 1998.
The prohibited works of Pramoedya Ananta Toer that were previously only available outside Indonesia were suddenly available.
But prohibition began to discreetly reappear after 2002, reports the newspaper.
“In the reformation era, it should have been unthinkable to see books being banned,” it quotes Indonesian Institute of Sciences historian Asvi Marwan Adam as saying. “Unfortunately, this practice still haunts us.”
The historian says the high-profile book bannings included the reckless revocation of a series of junior high history textbooks in 2007.
“The banning of a history textbook is ironic. The author of the book, which was published in 2004, was deemed to have intentionally omitted two important milestones: the Madiun Incident in 1948 and the September 30th Movement in 1965,” he said.
“After the ban, the government eventually realized these events were covered in a separate textbook in the same series.”
Asvi noted that beginning in 2007, the rate at which the Attorney General's
Office banned books had constantly increased.
The newspaper says that although the book, Unmasking the Cikeas Octopus: Behind the Bank Century Scandal, written by scholar George Junus Aditjondro has not been banned, publisher Galang Press Yogyakarta has had to endure its removal from the shelves of bookstores in anticipation of official wrath.
The book links President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner-circle with the State’s rescue of failed Bank Century.
But two Galang Press books, Pemusnahan Etnis Melanesia, or The Extermination of Ethnic Melanesia and Tenggelamnya Rumpun Melanesia, or The Drowning of Ethnic Melanesia, have been with the Attorney General’s Office since 2007.
Both deal with the restive West Papua province.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences scholar Jaleswari Pramodhawardani told the Antara news agency: “Book banning violates basic human rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Law.
“Banning books will tarnish Indonesia's reputation as a democratic country,” she said.
The Jakarta Post reports that the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and the Attorney General’s Office is reviewing 200 newly-published books, with 20 undergoing strict reviews.
Earlier this month, Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Didiek Darmanto says there are 143 crucial reasons that prohibit assistant professor of history at the University of British Columbia John Roosa’s book dealing with September 30th Movement and former president Soeharto’s 1965 coup d’etat must remain banned in Indonesia.
“We won’t go into details on the reasons because the public, especially at the lower levels may react in a way that could open the way for conflicts,” he told The Jakarta Post when asked to explain the ban.
Professor Roosa’s book Dalih Pembunuhan Massal Gerakan 30 September dan Kudeta Soeharto or Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Soeharto’s Coup d’Etat offers an alternative perspective to the mainstream version that places the blame for the September 30th Movement on the Indonesian Communist Party or PKI. The book alleges the abortive movement was actually Soeharto’s way of seizing power from founding president Soekarno.
The Southeast Asian Times

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40 women admitted to hospital from Viet Nam factory

Workers from the Long An a Long An-Provincial industrial estate in the Nha Be Hospital in nearby Ho Chi Minh City

From News Reports:
Ho Chi Minh City, February 9: More than 40 women employed at a South Korean-owned factory have reportedly been admitted to hospital apparently suffering from hysteria.
Thanh Nien newspaper, says about 100 of the women who worked for the brake maker in a Long An-Provincial industrial estate where about 3,000 workers struck last month for wages that accord with Viet Nam’s industrial law; early payment of their Tet, or lunar new year, bonuses; payment of their health and social security contributions and the elimination of forced overtime, began crying uncontrollably and then collapsed.
Two were sent to the Can Giuoc District hospital – the location of the factory - and 40 to the Nha Be Hospital in nearby Ho Chi Minh City.
Others recovered without having to go to hospital.
“I saw her crying and moving her arms and legs like a psychic,” Vnexpress quoted one of the women, Tuyet, as saying.
“Several minutes later, I began crying and felt tired. I saw myself in the hospital when I woke up.”
Others said they were tired and found it difficult to breathe.
Nha Be Hospital physician said the condition of the women was not critical.
The hospital’s director Nguyen Huu Tho told Tre Tuoi the newspaper that hysteria might be the cause.
The paper also reported that some workers said they’d seen ghosts in the toilet and this had terrified others.
Ho Chi Minh City Health Department physician Phan Van Nghiem said the sugar levels of some workers might have dropped because they had not eaten breakfast, and others may of suffered “psychological infection.”
The Viet Nam News reports that southern Dong Nai Province is short 60,000 to 70,000 unskilled workers, especially in the footwear and textile and garment industries, despite relatively high unemployment.
It quotes a Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Department official as saying the shortage persisted because of the industry’s low pay and hazardous nature of the work.
The industry employed about 230,000 literate workers from other provinces to fill the shortfall but these had to be provided accommodation and other infrastructure.
Providing them with them with just electricity and water cost the province about US$240, 000 a year.
“In the future we will have to attract technology-based industries that need fewer unskilled workers, but now, with the predominance of footwear and textile companies, migrant workers are the best choice” said the department’s deputy director Lam Duy
In northern Viet Nam, Unskilled farm labourers idle between planting and harvesting in northern Viet Nam are reported to have spurned the employment on offer in Ha Noi’s export-oriented industrial estates.
The mostly foreign-owned enterprises are offering seasonal work in the garments; furniture; footwear; steel and electronic industries as they anticipate global economic recovery.
But rural workers, especially women who lost their jobs when the economy contracted, now prefer higher-paying domestic employment in the city rather than the long hours and low pay in the industrial parks.
The owners of foreign-owned enterprises in southern Viet Nam were leaving the country without paying their workers their entitlements, it was reported last month.
The missing employers were from South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.
An example was Hason Limited in the Tan Dinh Industrial Zone, the Ben Cat District, where 669 stranded workers were now to be paid from provincial funds.
The shoemaker was ten foreign-owned enterprises whose executives had fled Binh Duong Province last year owing a total of 2,800 workers their pay, social insurance contributions and other allowances worth about $682,000.
Ben Cat District People’s Court had received claims from 300 Hanson employees seeking pay and insurance contributions.
Binh Duong Labour Union deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khuong had asked the provincial people’s committee to have its finance department provide dong 1.1 billion the workers so that they could return home for Tet, or the lunar new year that starts next week.
Dismissed workers are now, for the first time, eligible for unemployment payments.
Viet Nam’s Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry officials say those eligible to claim the payments are those who have paid their premiums for at least 12 months and have signed with a local job centre or a registered office for unemployment benefits seven days after losing their jobs.
The dismissed workers will also be supported to take vocational courses free of charge and introduced to new jobs.
The Southeast Asian Times

Hun Sen cancels visit to Ta Muen Thom temple, Thailand
From News Reports:
Surin, February 9: Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen had cancelled a planned visit to the Ta Muen Thom temple in Thailand’s north-eastern Surin province after his military escort was told it could not carry weapons, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said yesterday.
The Cambodian prime minister had understood the regulations and did not want to create tension between soldiers from the two countries even though he wanted to travel as a tourist, the secretary said.
The commander of Thailand’s Second Army, Lieutenant-General Weewalit Chornsamrit, said that Cambodian soldiers had sought permission to visit Ta Muen Thom temple without their weapons, but he had explained the possible danger of a confrontation with supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy or Yellow Shirts.
The soldiers had understood and had agreed not to enter the temple precinct where alliance coordinator Veera Somkwamkid and about 150 of his supporters had gathered near the temple to oppose Mr Hun Sen's visit.
Hun Sen visited the disputed 11th-century Preah Vihear Hindu temple and its surrounds during his visit to the Cambodia-Thailand border.
The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962.
Last month, judges of the Thai Administrative Court quashed a Cabinet resolution of June 17, 2008 approving a Thai-Cambodian memorandum of understanding for the listing of 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The judges found that the government of then Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has since died, failed to follow Section 190 of the 2007 constitution that requires parliament to approve all agreements dealing with sovereignty.
The Thai parliament reportedly did not appraise the memorandum before then foreign minister Noppadon Pattama signed it with Cambodia’s deputy Prime Minister Sok An on May 22, 2008.
The memorandum had Thailand pledge support for Cambodia in nominating the temple to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as a World Heritage site.
A map of the overlapping border precinct surrounding the temple was attached to the document.
People's Alliance for Democracy, or Yellow Shirt, representatives challenged the agreement with the support of senators and academics on June 24 last year and their lawyer, Nitithon Lamlua, said judgement would be used to ask Thailand’s Anti-Corruption Commission which is investigating the former foreign minister for alleged malfeasance.
The former foreign minister has argued that the joint communiqué did not require parliament's approval because it was not an international treaty.
It would not lead to the loss of Thai territory to Cambodia, he said.
In April, Thai and Cambodian soldiers fought each other with automatic weapons and rockets in the disputed 4.6 squ km border precinct.
At least two Thai soldiers are confirmed as killed in the fighting.
In October, a battle between soldiers of the two armies left four troops dead.
The Cambodian government’s appointment in November of fugitive ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawarta as an economic adviser, including as a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, has exacerbated tension between the Association-of-Southeast -Asian neighbours.
Unesco's World Heritage Committee will decide on Thursday, July 15 as to whether to continue listing Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The Southeast Asian Times

Hun Sen visits disputed Preah Vihear Hindu temple

Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and his wife Bun Rany pray during their visit to the disputed 11th-century Preah Vihear Hindu temple and its surrounds

From News Reports:
Preah Vihear, February 8: Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has visited the disputed 11th-century Preah Vihear Hindu temple and its surrounds.
His presence, with his wife Bun Rany, sparked an immediate protest rally of about 100 People’s Alliance for Democracy, or Yellow Shirt, supporters who were confined behind barbed wire that had been Thai soldiers erected at the entrance to the national park, reports The Bangkok Post.
The newspaper says Thailand’s second army commander, Weewalit Chornsamrit, greeted the Prime Minister, who spent about 30 minutes at the temple as part of visit to the Cambodia-Thai border,
It quoted Hun Sen as having asked Thais “to avoid fighting because we are neighbours, we cannot be enemies forever.”
The prime minister began his tour of the area by opening a school and giving supplies to villagers caught up in a border fire fight last April.
“I have never asked for compensation. For me, it doesn't matter about compensation, he said referring to the destruction of a Cambodian market during the gun battle.
“They [the Thais] have invaded us and look down on us.
“They are still keeping it in their minds to invade Cambodia and do not know when they will stop. The invaders have never left us, even though they can kill their own citizens.”
The prime minister and his wife are expected to continue their tour today.
The Nation newspaper quotes Yellow Shirt rural coordinator Veeraphon Sopha as vowing to establish villages in the border provinces of Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Sa Kaew to ensure Thai sovereignty.
The latest firefights between Thai and Cambodian troops were about 20 kilometers east of the Preah Vihear temple and its disputed surrounds late last month and had been the result of a misunderstanding, said Thai Army spokesman Colonel Samsern Keawkamnerd.
The shooting had occurred during the morning that Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was visiting the temple.
The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962.
Last month, judges of the Thai Administrative Court quashed a Cabinet resolution of June 17, 2008 approving a Thai-Cambodian memorandum of understanding for the listing of 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.
The judges found that the government of then Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has since died, failed to follow Section 190 of the 2007 constitution that requires parliament to approve all agreements dealing with sovereignty.
The Thai parliament reportedly did not appraise the memorandum before then foreign minister Noppadon Pattama signed it with Cambodia’s deputy Prime Minister Sok An on May 22, 2008.
The memorandum had Thailand pledge support for Cambodia in nominating the temple to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as a World Heritage site.
A map of the overlapping border precinct surrounding the temple was attached to the document.
People's Alliance for Democracy, or Yellow Shirt, representatives challenged the agreement with the support of senators and academics on June 24 last year and their lawyer, Nitithon Lamlua, said judgement would be used to ask Thailand’s Anti-Corruption Commission which is investigating the former foreign minister for alleged malfeasance.
The former foreign minister has argued that the joint communiqué did not require parliament's approval because it was not an international treaty.
It would not lead to the loss of Thai territory to Cambodia, he said.
In April, Thai and Cambodian soldiers fought each other with automatic weapons and rockets in the disputed 4.6 squ km border precinct.
At least two Thai soldiers are confirmed as killed in the fighting.
In October, a battle between soldiers of the two armies left four troops dead.
The Cambodian government’s appointment in November of fugitive ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawarta as an economic adviser, including as a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, has exacerbated tension between the Association-of-Southeast -Asian neighbours.
The Southeast Asian Times

Resorts World Sentosa granted Singapore casino licence
From News Reports:
Singapore, February 8: The Casino Regulatory Authority has issued Resorts World Sentosa a licence for Singapore's first casino.
The approval had been delayed in December after the authority asked Resorts World for more information about the casino.
Resorts World, built by Malaysia's Genting for US$5 billion declined to say on Saturday when it planned to open the casino.
Previously, its representatives had said it was planned to open it as soon as the licence was issued.
The 49-hectare off-shore resort opened 1,340 rooms in four hotels last month. It also plans to open a Universal Studios theme park by March.
Rival Las Vegas Sands expects to open its $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands casino-resort in Singapore in May.
The Singapore government expects the two casino-resorts to increase the country's gross domestic product growth by up to 1 percentage point, boost tourist arrivals and add 35,000 jobs.
Late last week, Commissioner-of-Police-Exclusion-Orders from the two casinos were to about 3,500 people with criminal records for drugs, illegal money lending, prostitution and secret societies.
In September, it was announced that al the city-state's recipients of public assistance and their dependants as well as bankrupts will be banned from its new casino.
The laws ensuring their prohibition are embodied in changes the Singapore Parliament made to the Casino Control Act.
There will be no appeal.
The Southeast Asian Times

Malaysia’s police investigate Nasir Safar for sedition

Just -resigned special officer to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak Najib rides a trishaw at the Jonker Walk, Melaka

From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 7: Malaysia’s police are investigating Nasir Safar, 61, the just -resigned special officer to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for sedition.
The Star newspaper quotes police inspector general Musa Hassan as saying the investigation follows the lodging of nationwide complaints and stems from derogatory remarks about the country’s Chinese and Indian citizens the former assemblyman for Pulai Sebatang, Johor, made at a 1Malaysia seminar at the Melaka international convention centre last week.
“Since the words were uttered in Malacca, the police there would be responsible for conducting the investigations,” the inspector general said.
The Bernama quotes Melaka police chief Mohammad Rodwan Mohammad Yusof as saying the police would record Nasir Safar’s statement either tomorrow or on Tuesday.
“So far, the investigation is 85 per cent completed and only waiting for his statement to fully complete the probe," he told reporters.
The investigation was based in the Sedition Act 1948 and the police had taken statements from 30 witnesses, including state assemblymen and members of the media.
The Malaysia Insider news portal quotes the former special officer as saying: “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies.”
In a statement issued last week, Nasir Safar said he had not intended to offend and aplogised.
The Southeast Asian Times

Fifty one private armies threaten Mindanao election
From News Reports:
Davao, February 7: Fifty-one Private Armed Groups with 4,337 armed members are active on Mindanao, reports Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy commander Brigadier General Ceasario Atienza.
Many were listed members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit or Civilian Volunteer Organizations with allegiance to local politicians or businessmen and were a major threat to the May elections, he told the six-member commission appointed by President Macapagal Arroyo to address and then permanently dismantle private armies
Forty-two of the armed groups were in the Muslim Autonomous Region, he said.
“Their presence can sow fear in the coming May elections.”
In Manila, National Bureau of Investigation spokesman Ric Diaz has told reporters that at least three different groups composed of former policemen and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were preparing to free Andal Ampatuan Jr.
The Mayor of Datu Unsay pleaded not guilty to another 15 counts of murder at his petition for bail before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at Camp Crame, Quezon, last week.
It means the mayor of now faces 56 charges of murder following the slaughter of 57 people slaughtered near Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao, Mindanao, on Monday, November 23.
The Southeast Asian Times

Prosecution of former Thai deputy interior minister sought

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission Pracharaj Party, or Royalist People's Party, has voted unanimously to seek the prosecution of Pracharaj Party or Royalist People's Party, founder Sanoh Thienthong over his role in the acquisition of land for the Alpine Golf Club at Pathum Thani north of Bangkok

From News Reports:
Bangkok, February 6: The National Anti-Corruption Commission has voted unanimously to seek the prosecution of Pracharaj Party, or Royalist People's Party, founder Sanoh Thienthong over his role in the acquisition of land for the Alpine Golf Club at Pathum Thani north of Bangkok.
But Sanoh Thienthong, who was formerly chairman of the now-banned Thai Rak Thai, or Thai Loves Thai Party of deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, told parliament that he had not abused his authority as deputy interior minister to acquire the land originally donated to a temple.
National Anti-Corruption Commission member and spokesman Klanarong Chanthik said the commission had found the original owner of the land in on which the golf course and housing estate is built, Nuem Chamnanchartsakda, had left the 732 rai to Wat Thammikaram in 1971.
The abbot then sought to have ownership of the land ownership transferred to the temple but Sanoh Thienthong, who as deputy interior minister was supervisor of the Land Department on February 13, 1990, rejected the abbot's request.
The rejection enabled the Alpine Real Estate Company and Alpine Golf and Sports Club Company to buy the land from the foundation which had been assigned to manage the estate.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission found Sanoh Thienthong’s wife, Uraiwan Thienthong, held 300,000 shares worth baht 30 million in the two companies and his younger brother, Witthaya Thienthong, and his close associate, Chucheep Harnsawat, both held 150,000 shares worth baht 15 million as of January 23, 1990.
It concluded that in accord with a resolution by the Council of State that Nuem Chamnanchartsakda’s will had to be honoured and the land which had been sold to the two companies was monastic property.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission agreed that Sanoh Thienthong had violated sections 148 and 157 of the Criminal Code but as the statute of limitations applied from August 2005, it would ask the Office of the Attorney-General to charge him only with violating Section 148 of the Criminal Code.
The section deals with government official who abuses his authority to acquire property for the benefit of their own or others.
Earlier this month, former Prime Minister and now Privy councillor General Surayud Chulanont began moving out of his holiday retreat at Khao Yai Thiang, in the highlands of northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima Province, after it was confirmed that he was not entitled to occupy the land.
United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red Shirt, supporters had earlier rallied outside the residence saying it had been illegally obtained from forestry reserve.
They followed this with an unprecedented rally outside the Privy Council office, Bangkok.
The protesters, who say many villagers at Khao Yai Thiang have been sued for trespassing in the forest and forced to leave their land, want the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to answer for General Surayud Chulanont’s encroachment of the reserve.
But an Attorney General Office spokesman has announced that it would not sue the general for his ownership of land in the forest preserve because the former prime minister had violated no law and that his land purchase was legal.
General Surayud Chulanont said he would “be pleased to return” the land in order to “end all the problems” if ordered by the Royal Forest Department to do so.
But he would not resign as a privy councillor.
The Southeast Asian Times

Villagers burn Red Shirt banners outside Phuket naval base
From News Reports:
Phuket, February 6: Villagers burned the flags of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red Shirt, supporters who have attempted outside the Thai naval base in Cape Panwa, Phuket.
The rally was intended to gain support from the Royal Thai Navy.
The Phuket Gazette reports that about 30 villagers, who blocked the camp entrance, scuffled with the red shirts.
The Thai News Agency says Red Shirt supporters have gathered at military barracks nationwide to oppose what they insist is a likely military coup.
The news agency quotes Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who oversees internal security, as saying he had instructed army personnel to exercise restraint and tolerance to any provocation.
Army chief of staff General Anupong Paochinda has rejected suggestions of a coup.
The Southeast Asian Times

Andal Ampatuan Jr pleads not guilty to 15 more murders

The Mayor of Datu Unsay, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has pleaded not guilty to another 15 counts of murder petition for bail

From News Reports:
Manila, February 5: Andal Ampatuan Jr has pleaded not guilty to another 15 counts of murder at his petition for bail before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at Camp Crame, Quezon.
It means the mayor of Datu Unsay now faces 56 charges of murder.
The extra charges were made as his lawyers tried to establish that their client had only been identified as the principal suspect in the slaughter of the 57 people slaughtered near Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao, Mindanao, on Monday, November 23 because he was supposed to be the strongest rival of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu in May’s election for the governor of Maguindanao Province.
The 57th victim of the massacre is believed to have been journalist Robert Momay but identification of his body has yet to be confirmed.
Both Harry Roque, a lawyer for the families of the dead, and representatives of the National Union of Journalists have so far failed in an effort to have the proceedings televised throughout the Philippines.
The Manila Bulleting quotes Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said a libel hearing initiated by former president Corazon Aquino and the trial for plunder of former president Joseph Estrada had set the precedent for a non-televised trial.
The widows of 14 journalists slain during the massacre have lodged a petition asking the newly-formed Association of Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission to make the Philippine government accountable for the massacre.
It’s the first such petition lodged with the Jakarta-based commission.
Lawyers for the widows, Harry Roque and Pete Prinsipe, have named the Republic of the Philippines as the principal respondent in the 23-page complaint.
At least 30 journalists were among the victims of the massacre.
The Southeast Asian Times

Mother and son charged with Indonesian maid’s murder
From News Reports:
Malacca, February 5: A woman, 55, and her son, 26, have been jointly charged before Magistrate Muhammad Faizal Ismail with the murder of Nurul Aida M. Nur, 31, of Bogok Besar, northern Sumatra, on Thursday, January 21.
K. Letchmy and K. Kannan were said to have caused the death of the maid at their residence in Taman Peringgit Jaya about 5.30am.
They duo did not plead and were remanded to reappear on Tuesday, April 6.
Four other people, including Lechumi’s husband, Krishnan, were released.
A post mortem report showed that the young had died of blunt trauma injuries to her head, chest and abdomen.
The maid’s employment agent and her friend had taken her corpse to an undertaker in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, who refused their request to cremate it without proper documents.
The Southeast Asian Times

Judges allow West Papua 11 more legislative councillors
From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 5: Constitutional Court judges have agreed with plaintiffs Ramses Ohee and Yonas Alfons Nusi that West Papua’s Legislative Council should better represent the province’s indigenous citizens and ordered that it should have 11 new members.
The Jakarta Post says the new appointed members will be representatives of the Papuan people and are expected to allow traditional communities more say in the exploitation of resources.
It quotes constitutional judge Achmad Sodiki as saying the appointment of the new members was “for the sake of national unity under the Unitary Republic of Indonesia and to ensure benefits, just treatment, equality and opportunity for the indigenous Papuans”.
“… the Papuan governor and the Papuan Legislative Council need to immediately issue a bylaw which will regulate the appointments of the 11 new members of the council,” he said.
The Constitutional Court judges confirmed the validity of the current 56 members of the
Council and the 11 extra members will take their number to 67.
“The appointment of 11 new members of the Papuan council and the special bylaw regulating it will apply only for the 2009-2014 period. For the next term, [a different] special bylaw will regulate the mechanism for the following appointments,” Achmad Sodiki said.
West Papua was granted special autonomy in 2001.
But the World Bank has reported that more than 40 percent of West Papuans still live below the poverty line, while the province has the country’s highest aids rates.
About 700 workers at the Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Corporation's Grasberg mine, in the eastern highlands of West Papua, about 3,400 kilometres east of Jakarta have held a mass prayer meeting for peace.
The Tonggoi Papua labour union organised the meeting at the Tembagapura stadium on the road that links the Grassberg mine and Timika.
The prayers followed the wounding of nine people by unidentified assailants who fired on two vehicles carrying employees of the Grasberg mine and traveling the road between the Phoenix-based transnational “company town” Tembagapura and Kuala Kencana, Timika, on Sunday, January 24.
Three people, American James Lockhart, 59, and two members of Indonesia’s elite police Mobile Brigade had to be evacuated to hospitals in Singapore and Jakarta for treatment after the shooting.
The attack was launched with a few days of West Papua Police chief Inspector General Bekto Suprapto telling visiting United States diplomats that security within Freeport’s massive concession was improving.
In September, about 600 extra Indonesian soldiers were deployed to help guard the mine from attacks
The Southeast Asian Times

Five people in high dependency unit after Darwin bombing

Darwin, February 4: Five people were in the high-dependency unit at Royal Darwin Hospital last night after a home-made bomb exploded in the Territory Insurance Office between Smith and Cavenagh Streets, Darwin. “I understand that there was some flammable liquid,” said Police Incident Officer Rob Kendrick. “The cause of the explosion and the nature of the explosion will be subject to an investigation. “A person of interest has attended at Darwin Police Station, surrendered at the front counter and is presently in custody.” It is believed the man loaded a

trolley with jerry cans full of fuel and fireworks before wheeling it into the TIO office. Officer Kendrick said police had not determined the motive for the attack. Ambulance, police and fire crews worked to treat the injured at the scene. Northern Territory Police Commander Colleen Gwynne said the man responsible for the blast was a disgruntled claimant. “It was a callous act,” she said. “In hindsight we are very fortunate there was no loss of life.” At least 15 people were injured in the blast. The Southeast Asian Times

Andal Ampatuan Jr's petition for bail continues

The suspended governor of Mindanao Autonomous Muslim Region, Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, has denied any knowledge of plans to ambush the convoy in a statement lodged with The Philippine Inquirer

From News Reports:
Manila, February 4: The Mayor of Datu Unsay, Andal Ampatuan Jr's, petition for bail before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes was to have resumed at Camp Crame, Quezon, yesterday.
The deputy mayor of the small town of Buluan Esmael Mangudadatu, the husband and brother of three of the 57 slaughtered near Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao Province, southwestern Mindanao, Mindanao, on Monday, November 23.
A physician was also to give evidence.
The hearing was to resume the day after Judge Vicencio Baclig, 79, of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court was selected by lottery to hear the charges of rebellion made against former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr and four members of his family.
The judge, who has yet to schedule an arraignment for the accused that include suspended regional governor Zaldy Ampatuan and suspended provincial governor Sajid Ampatuan, is to retire next year.
The five allegedly organised a foiled armed uprising to prevent policemen from arresting suspects in the massacre.
The suspended governor of Mindanao Autonomous Muslim Region, Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, has denied any knowledge of plans to ambush the convoy in a statement lodged with The Philippine Inquirer.
“I do hereby swear that I am innocent and have nothing to do with the accusations filed against me,” says the statement.
“On that day, I took the first flight to Manila from Davao to catch up with a scheduled meeting with the President …Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo…together with some political allies from Sulu.
“I only learned of the incident vaguely from a phone call after our meeting with the President that day.
“I was shocked.
“I sympathize with the families of the victims and I have condemned, and I continue to condemn the killings as an unthinkable and unfortunate tragedy that I never thought could happen.
“We will continue to cooperate with the investigation as we appeal to everybody to let the ongoing investigation take its natural course,” he said.
Rasul Sangki, 30, one of eight witnesses listed to give evidence for the prosecution in a bid to stop Andal Ampatuan Jr's from gaining bail told the hearing when it opened that he saw the accused shoot at least three of those killed.
The accused’s father, former Maguindanao Province Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr, had instructed his son to do the killings, he said.
The 57 were slain while making their way to Shariff Aguak, the provincial capital of Maguindanao, to lodge the candidacy forms for Esmael Mangudadatu.
His wife, three sisters and an aunt were in the convoy, heading to an election office to enter him as a candidate in this year’s election for provincial governor, a position Mr Ampatuan was also seeking.
Mr Ampatuan, the only person so far indicted for the massacre, has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts of murder.
Evidence provided at the bail hearing will be used in the subsequent murder trial.
The Southeast Asian Times

Six stand trial for alleged help with tax evasion
From News Reports:
Ho Chi Minh City, February 4: Six senior tax officials accused have had to stand trial in the Dong Nai People’s Court accused of allowing a Taiwanese-financed fishery enterprise to evade tax payments.
The defendants are reportedly two former Finance Ministry Foreign Tax Section deputy directors Phan Van Hien and Vu Xuan Hieu; the department’s Foreign Investment Section director Hoang Ngoc Nang Hong and three former Dong Nai Province tax office officials Dang Thi Bach Tuyet, Nguyen Thi Lan and Pham Van Ngo.
Thanh Nien newspaper says the six charged with “deliberately violating state economic regulations causing serious consequences.”
The offences carry jail terms of between 10-20 years.
Prosecutors say the defendants illegally allowed a reduction and exemption of taxes for the Grobest & IMei Industrial Company in the Amata Industrial Park between 2003-and 2005.
Losses to the State are put at US$1.95 million.
The indictment says the enterprise was established in 2000 to produce fish feed for the domestic market fish produce for export.
Although ineligible for preferential tax benefits, it managed to obtain approval for favourable tax policies.
The six accused have said they followed proper procedures.
The Southeast Asian Times

Prosecutor vows to prove Anwar Ibrahim a sodomist
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 4: The prosecution would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Anwar Ibrahim, 63, had sodomised Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 25, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on June 26 2008, senior prosecutor Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden told the opening of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People’s Justice Party member for Permatang Pauh, Penang, yesterday.
The alleged victim and forensic evidence from physicians and chemists would prove the charge, he told High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohamad Diah
Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan was the first witness to provide evidence at the trial at which the former deputy prime minister, who says the charges are based in malicious intent, has pleaded not guilty.
He said the prosecution had listed more than 20 witnesses in the case which will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur.
The charge carries a maximum 20 years in jail and whipping on conviction.
A date for a hearing to deal with Anwar Ibrahim’s to gain access to documents he says he needs for his defence and his petition to have the charge struck off could be settled by the end of the week.
Much of today’s hearing is expected to be held in camera to allow Mohammed Saiful Bukhari Azlan to give sensitive evidence.
The Southeast Asian Times

Suspended major general surrenders to Bangkok police

Suspended Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, or Sae Dang, 59, surrenders to the police in Bangkok. About 100 United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the Red Shirts, accompanied him to the police station

From News Reports:
Bangkok, February 3: Suspended Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, or Sae Dang, 59, has reported to members of the Crime Suppression Division to answer charges of possessing weapons of war.
About 100 protesters, including United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship coordinator Arisman Pongruengrong loudly proclaimed their support for the army specialist as he arrived at the police station.
In October, Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol announced that “he would mobilise government supporters against any military attempt to seize political power.”
Later, he told a radio interviewer that he was training United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red Shirt, supporters in armed combat.
He reportedly also threatened to have protesters to use petrol bombs and against armoured vehicles if the military attempted a coup.
The police say weapons, including an M26 grenade a .38 calibre pistol and ammunition, were confiscated when they raided his residence in the compound of the 4th Cavalry Battalion Bangkok, on Tuesday, January 26.
The police raid followed a grenade attack against the offices of army chief General Anupong Paojinda at army headquarters in Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Bangkok, during the early morning of Friday, January 15.
The major-general has denied any involvement in the attack. He has also denied owning the weapons seized in the raids on his residence.
The major general was suspended early last month for criticizing his commander’s leadership.
The Southeast Asian Times

Judge orders trial of Anwar Ibrahim to start today
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, February 3: High Court judge Justice Mohammad Zabidin Mohammad Diah ordered the trial of Anwar Ibrahim, 63, to begin this afternoon after the member for Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People’s Justice Party member for Permatang Pauh, Penang, failed to win a stay of his sodomy trial and the hearing proper is now set to begin on Wednesday.
The defendant’s lawyers had sought a stay of proceedings after winning an appointment with the Chief Judge of Malaya Alauddin Mohammad Sheriff for the fixing of a date to review the Federal Court’s decision to reject their application to seek more evidence.
“I find that there is no special circumstances in the law of proceedings to grant a stay. The trial will proceed,” said the trial judge.
The sodomy trial is now set to begin at 2.30pm pending the outcome of a meeting with Appeal Court president Justice Alauddin Mohammad Sheriff at 9.30am in Putrajaya this morning.
Yesterday Anwar Ibrahim told international reporters that he would subpoena Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, alleging that they were involved in what he said was a conspiracy to have him imprisoned.
His trial is expected to last 17 days.
Chief Federal Court Judge Arifin Zakaria and Judges Mohammad Raus Sharif and Abdull Hamid Embong unanimously upheld an Appeal Court ruling that Anwar Ibrahim entitled to access only documents and materials pertaining to the sodomy charge and which have already been given to him.
“At this pre-trial stage, a roving fishing enquiry for evidence is not permissible. A catch-all net cannot be cast. The appellant is not entitled to know by what means the prosecution proposes to prove the charge he faces,” said Judge Abdull Hamid delivering a 31-page written judgment.
The High Court granted Anwar Ibrahim’s application for prosecution to supply him with key documents to enable him to prepare his defence in July.
These included CCTV recordings, police reports, copies of witness statements as well as medical and pharmaceutical notes.
But it refused to grant his request for DNA samples taken from Mohammad Saiful on November 6.
Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty to a charge of carnal intercourse against the order of nature with Mohammad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on June 26 2008.
He was charged in August last year and faces 20 years imprisonment if convicted.
Anwar Ibrahim, who said he would appeal the judge’s ruling, spent six years in prison between 1998 and 2004 after being convicted of corruption and of sodomising his former family driver.
Judges of Malaysia's highest court eventually overturned the sodomy conviction.
The Southeast Asian Times

East Timor’s president ignores police assault of student
Dili, February 3: Fretilin member of the parliament’s defence, security and foreign affairs committee and former government minister Jose Teixeira has asked why President Jose Ramos-Horta said and did nothing after witnessing an unprovoked brutal police assault of a contestant in a fishing competition promoted by the president.
Mr Teixeira said President Ramos-Horta saw police assault student Lhew Comacoshe during East Timor’s inaugural International Fishing Competition on November 27 last year but remained silent about it until Fretilin MPs raised the incident in parliament and the media began asking questions.
Mr Comacoshe, a participant in the fishing competition, which attracted entrants from Australia and Asia, was punched, kicked and bashed with a rifle butt on a beach on Atauro Island, 25 kilometres off the coast of the capital Dili, in full view of hundreds of people.
Film of the assault which happened soon after President Ramos-Horta officially opened the competition has been posted on You Tube.
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe was apparently beaten because he held up a placard on which was written, “Fishing Group From Suco Maunroni, Sub-District of Atauro, District of Dili,” identifying from where his group of competitors were and which he intended to affix to their boat, but the police took objection to it without any explanation, and forcibly removed from his possession, afterwards assaulting him.
The police were now persecuting the student and his family for daring to report the incident to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, the Attorney General and parliament.
“The assault of Mr Comacoshe partly reflects the gung-ho and very militaristic attitude introduced by the new police commander Longuinhos Monteiro, who appears bent on creating a 'shadow army',” said Mr Teixeira.
President Ramos-Horta reportedly told the Dili daily, Jornal Diario Nacional on January 29: "This poor Timorese fellow was merely holding up a placard, I saw the police beat him but because it was far away I did not understand what was happening.
“Afterwards I heard that he was holding up a placard, I thought if it was a placard then let him do it, there is no need to beat him just because he was only holding up a placard.”
The president should not have remained silent about the incident, said Mr Teixeira especially since Mr Comacoshe, personally delivered a written complaint regarding the incident to the President's office on December 17 last year, and then subsequently, on December 23, his brother delivered a copy of the video to the President’s Office.
“In an apparent act of revenge for having the temerity to lodge a complaint, police on 13 January evicted Comacoshe's law-abiding family from a State owned house they had lived in for six years,” said Mr Teixeira.
“There was no formal notification from the government - the village chief and police turned up and threw their belongings out the door, after having threatened him with loaded weapons.
“If president Ramos-Horta had spoken up earlier it might have avoided reprisals against Comacoshe and his family, but the President obviously did not want to spoil the media glow generated by the international fishing competition organised by his office.
“Many people, the victim included have asked me, ‘Is this what it means to be a President for the for the poor and the weak, as he claims widely?’ I have to ask the same question."
Mr Teixeira said Mr Comacoshe's family had now sought refuge in Dili and has yet to receive any help from the government.
“Complaints of police brutality are happening with an unprecedented frequency and on an unprecedented scale. We have citizens making complaints almost every day now. In the past two weeks we received complaints about police joining in with martial arts groups and using violence against their rivals.
“Late last year in Uatolari, Viqueque district, police allegedly assaulted and tortured a number of young men.
“On December 28 2009 police shot and killed an unarmed young musician at a party in Dili.
“There is something very wrong with the way police are being trained and commanded. Last month, East Timor police reported the new police commander Longuinhos Monteiro as saying in regard to alleged criminal activity recently carried out in border districts by masked groups known as ninjas, 'Any Ninjas who want to take us on, your final stop will be Santa Cruz cemetery.'
“Dressed in military style fatigues, wearing black gloves, carrying an automatic rifle and fully equipped with field battle vest Monteiro is personally leading the operation to search and arrest these alleged ninjas.
“Last year he established a special heavily armed police unit named the 'Public Order Battalion' and late last year attempted to enter into a contract to acquire hundreds of additional automatic rifles.
“The government pays lip service to 'community policing' but it is all about the use of force, force, force, relying on weapons, weapons, weapons,” said Mr Teixeira.
“We already have an army, we do not need a shadow army.
“We have many professional and dedicated policemen and women who feel the same way we do and have asked us to speak up for them to change the direction of policing in this country. They want to serve their communities with pride and professionalism, and deserve our support.”
Mr Teixeira said Fretilin was preparing to table the terms of reference for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into police action over the last two years to establish whether there have been breaches of the law and what can be done in terms of improving police training and legal controls to make policing more community friendly and respecting of human rights.
The Southeast Asian Times

Military’s role in illegal Indonesian logging confirmed

Thirteen people are wanted as suspects in the illegal felling of these logs stored at a police post in Baru Village, the Siak Hulu District, Riau province. Police and soldiers reportedly seized the 824 30-50 centimetre logs on the bank of the Kampar Kiri Hilir River, Simalinyang village

From News Reports:
Jakarta, February 2: University-of-Indonesia research has confirmed that military personnel are part of illegal logging in Indonesian.
Their contribution ranges from coordinating tree felling to providing finance, the research done by a team from the Centre for East Asia Cooperation Studies shows.
The research was done in East Kalimantan, where illegal logging is reportedly rampant, between 1999 and 2006.
“The military’s involvement in this practice was structural and low-ranked soldiers to territorial commanders received a share,” The Jakarta Post quotes the centre’s executive director and senior researcher Tirta Mursitama as saying.
The research found three types of higher-ranked personnel contributed to the illegal logging.
These were those who received only a portion of the profit from their subordinates; high-ranked officers who were affiliated with the industry’s cukong, or tycoons; and those who provided finance.
The research said some military personnel were paid tribute for their role in having State forestry agencies issue permits that allowed the logging.
The tribute took the form of company shares.
Otherwise illegal profits were made from the misuse of timber utilisation permits issued by either the Forestry Ministry or forestry agencies.
Military cooperatives with these permits usually hired local people to fell trees and sell the logs to private companies.
But the felling did not always stop within the zone governed by the permits.
The role of the cukong as the financier of the entire system was essential to its success, Tirta Mursitama said.
“The cukong distributes money to private companies or military cooperatives.
“The latter two then distribute the money to people in several institutions including the military, the governor [regional government] and the Forestry Ministry through the forestry agencies.”
Borneo Institute research centre representative Koesnadi Wirasapoetra, who has spent more than 10 years studying Kalimantan’s rampant illegal logging industry, told the newspaper that military cooperatives or private companies with the necessary permits felled trees along river banks.
The illegal logs were then exported to Malaysia because it was illegal to do so in Indonesia.
Defence Ministry strategy director Rear Admiral T.H. Soesetyo conceded that military personnel participated in illegal logging but refused to identify the practice as a military business.
“Life in border zones can be difficult for soldiers,” he said.
“Their salaries are not enough to live, especially as daily goods are expensive.”
The rear admiral said he welcomed the centre’s research.
But “We cannot simply believe it.”
In December, New York-based Human Rights Watch reported that the mismanagement and illegal logging costs the Indonesian State an estimated US$2 billion a year.
Its report said its investigation revealed that Indonesia had forgone $6 billion in four years through 2006 because of taxes lost on illegal logging, under priced forest royalties and companies' undervaluing of reported export sales to offshore subsidiaries.
The report said the losses were conservative because they did not take into account smuggled timber that was not reported by either Indonesia or any importing country.
The figures also did not include lost company and income tax revenues.
The Southeast Asian Times

DNA tests offered in bid to track Filipino children
From News Reports:
Manila, February 2: Asia against Child Trafficking regional coordinator Amihan Abueva has offered to use DNA tests to help identify Filipino children sent illegally to Singapore for adoption.
Women posing as the mothers of the babies took them to the republic using fake identification, she told a forum titled: “DNA-Prokids: Using DNA To Help Fight Child-Trafficking.
“But once in Singapore, the babies are left behind.”
The Philippine Inquirer quotes Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor as telling reporters at the forum at the University of the Philippines, Quezon City: “The trouble is that there are no complainants.
“Parents also do not know where to go. They do not even know who to accuse since no one knows where the child went.”
Forensic scientists Dr Jose A. Lorente of the University of Granada, Spain, and Dr Arthur J. Eisenberg, co-director of the University of North Texas Centre for Human Identification helped launch DNA-Prokids as an international humanitarian initiative to use genetic identification of stolen children in 2004.
Dr Lorente told the meeting that child trafficking was now an international epidemic and could be “the No. 1 crime worldwide by the end of 2010.
“Heroin, at least, can be detected.
“But as long as there is no systematic method to track down parents and bring back their children to them, children will be abducted.”
For example, Guatemalan children were abducted and taken to North America and Europe where there were markets for illegal adoption.
Northern India, China and the Philippines were among the Asian countries with “statistically large percentage of cases” of illegal adoptions.
This meant that many children from these countries become victims of trafficking “whether through prostitution forced labour, militant activities or illegal adoptions.”
United Nations studies showed that Central and South America, Africa, Central and Southeast Asia were the prime sources of children brought to North America, Canada, the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
“One of the basic rights of a child is the right to identity,” Dr Lorente said.
“If a child is without documents, his identity can still be established through DNA analysis. But this requires the help of governments concerned and needs cooperation and coordination of their agencies.”
The forum’s programme says that 50 percent of the 600,000 to 800,000 people “trafficked across international borders each year are less than 17 years old.”
The Southeast Asian Times

Malaysian detained for alleged human trafficking
From News Reports:
Johor Baru, February 2: Interpol Bukit Aman has surrendered a Malaysian detained for alleged human trafficking to the Singapore police.
The man, 44, was detained after Singapore police issued a warrant for his arrest, reports the Bernama news agency
“He is wanted in connection with human trafficking activities from Malaysia to the republic,” the news agency quoted a senior policeman as saying.
The Southeast Asian Times

Anwar Ibrahim tells Filipinos of “unfair prosecution”

Former Philippines President Joseph Estrada and former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim brief reporters at the Manila Polo Cub

From News Reports:
Manila, February 1: Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People’s Justice Party member for Permatang Pauh, Penang, Anwar Ibrahim, 63, has complained to Filipino reporters that his prosecution for alleged sodomy has been unfair.
“I have not had a fair trial,” he said after a late breakfast with deposed President Joseph Estrada at the Manila Polo Club on Saturday.
When a judge was fair she was promptly replaced.
“Maybe this is my final overseas trip to meet my friends,” said the former deputy prime minister whose trial for the alleged sodomy of his former aide Mohammad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 25, is due to resume tomorrow.
Anwar Ibrahim, who like Philippines presidential candidate Joseph Estrada has served time in jail, also met the son of former President Corazon Aquino, presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino III, during his visit.
“They’re two family friends,” he said.
“They treat me as a family member.”
“You have relatively freer elections, a freer media,” the visitor said of the Philippines. “We don’t have that in Malaysia.
“No opposition leader would be given five minutes on television in our country.”
In Putrajaya, Chief Federal Court Judge Arifin Zakaria and Judges Mohammad Raus Sharif and Abdull Hamid Embong have unanimously upheld an Appeal Court ruling that Anwar Ibrahim entitled to access only documents and materials pertaining to the sodomy charge and which have already been given to him.
His lawyer Karpal Singh said the Federal Court would now be asked to immediately review the decision.
Anwar would file for an application to the
Federal Court on Tuesday for a five-man panel to review the decision.
“At this pre-trial stage, a roving fishing enquiry for evidence is not permissible. A catch-all net cannot be cast. The appellant is not entitled to know by what means the prosecution proposes to prove the charge he faces,” said Judge Abdull Hamid delivering a 31-page written judgment.
The High Court granted Anwar Ibrahim’s application for prosecution to supply him with key documents to enable him to prepare his defence in July.
These included CCTV recordings, police reports, copies of witness statements as well as medical and pharmaceutical notes.
But it refused to grant his request for DNA samples taken from Mohammad Saiful on November 6.
Anwar Ibrahim has also asked that his sodomy trial in the High Court be stayed.
Last month, Anwar Ibrahim asked Malaysia’s Syariah High Court to instruct its chief prosecutor to charge Mohammad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, with qazaf or criminal defamation.
The petition seeks to have the prosecution begin within 14 days of the Syariah judges issuing their order.
Section 41 of the Syariah Criminal Act 1997 stipulates that a person, who accuses another person of committing sexual offences without providing four male witnesses, has committed an offence for which he can be fined up to ringgit 5,000, about $US1, 480, or jailed up to three years or both.
Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty to a charge of carnal intercourse against the order of nature with Mohammad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on June 26 2008.
He was charged in August last year and faces 20 years imprisonment if convicted.
Anwar Ibrahim, who said he would appeal the judge’s ruling, spent six years in prison between 1998 and 2004 after being convicted of corruption and of sodomising his former family driver.
Judges of Malaysia's highest court eventually overturned the sodomy conviction.
The Southeast Asian Times

Prosecutors postpone decision to lay arms charges

Thai prosecutors have delayed their decision to charge IIyas Issakov, 56, Alexandr Zrybnev, 53, both from Kazakhstan, Mikhail Petukhou, 54, from Belarus, Viktor Abdukkayev, 58, Vitaliy Shumkov, 54, both also from Kazakhstan, will illegal arms possession

From News Reports:
Bangkok, February 1: Prosecutors have delayed their decision about charging five men will illegal arms possession after their Russian-built Georgian-registered Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft that made an emergency landing at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport early last month with arms aboard.
The Thai News Agency quotes Criminal Litigation Office director Kayasit Pissawanprakan as saying the decision had been delayed until at least Thursday, February 11 because there were many more documents to be assessed.
The wider impact of a prosecution had also to be considered, he said.
The aircraft was reportedly carrying 35 tonnes of explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles.
The Bangkok Post says that it has learned the aircraft arrived in Bangkok from Pyongyang a day earlier than originally reported by officials and its crew spent a night at a hotel near the airport accompanied by what appeared to be Thai security staff.
The five men aboard the aircraft, IIyas Issakov, 56, Viktor Abdukkayev, 58, Alexandr Zrybnev, 53, Vitaliy Shunkov, 54, from Kazakhstan, and Mikhail Petukou, 54, from Belarus, have been in detention since their arrests despite their efforts to win bail.
They have denied the charges.
Thai law allows police to detain suspects for up to 84 days
The Southeast Asian Times

1,500 West Papuans rally in support of referendum

West Papuans rally in support of a referendum to decide sovereignty in Timika. The poster reads: “Indonesia, be honest in recognising the freedom of our West Papuan nation”

From News Reports:
Timika, January 31: Speakers at rally of about 1,500 West Papuans in Timika have demanded a referendum to settle the sovereignty of their homeland.
The speakers argued that the 1969 so-called act of free choice, or Pepera, which made the former Dutch procession part of Indonesia, did not accord with international law.
The United Nations should review the poll, the speakers said.
The call for the referendum was made as the West Papuans paraded through Timika to support the registration of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua and the International Lawyers for West Papua with the European Union.
The Jakarta Post quotes rally coordinator Mario Pigei of the West Papua National Committee as saying his organisation had been entrusted with the task of coordinating the effort in West Papua.
“The international committee calls on the whole components of West Papua from Sorong to Samarai to be serious and to take part in the movement by showing support to the agenda,” he said.
“The agenda is very valuable for the identity of Papuans.”
”Papuans are always accused of separatism. Many of us have been killed in the name of separatism,” Mario Pigei said.
Mr Pigei asked those European government that provided funds for the implementation of special autonomy in Papua to stop disbursing the money because 60 percent of it had been used for military operations.
“Through the national committee for West Papua, Papuans urge the United Nations Security Council to unveil human rights violations in Papua committed during the military operations,” he said.
Papuans demanded a dialogue with the international community because they considered Indonesia to have failed to address basic problems in Papua.
“Human rights violations continue being committed in Papua with the killings of Papuan figures including Kelly Kwalik.
“The Indonesian government has to take responsibility for his death,” he said.
Indonesian troops and police killed National Liberation Army commander at Gorong-Gorong, Timika, in the early hours of Wednesday, December 16.
Mr Pigei asked that Indonesia police and military withdraw from the region.
He also insisted that the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, had not been responsible for the wounding of nine people aboard two vehicles carrying employees of the Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Corporation’s Grasberg gold and copper mine last week.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says in its 20th yearly report says that in Merauke, West Papua, Special Forces, or Kopassus, soldiers arrested Papuans without legal authority and subjected them to beatings and mistreatment.
Commanders made no serious effort to uphold military discipline or to hold soldiers accountable for abuses.
Earlier this month, Former Kopassus or Special Forces officer Major General Hotma Marbun was installed as the military commander of West Papua.
The Muslim from northern Sumatra succeeds Major General Azmyn Yusri Nasution.
Army Chief of Staff General George Toisutta, who was guest of honour at the transfer of duties, said: “The area overseen by the Cenderawasih…the Indonesian name for the bird of paradise… regional military command shares a border with Papua New Guinea with which we should maintain good relations.”
The Army Chief of Staff also told the 1977-Military-Academy graduate: “The law must be upheld because we do not want the Indonesian nation and state to be torn apart by groups that undermine the unity and integrity of the Republic of Indonesia.”
The Southeast Asian Times

Southern Philippines peace talks resume in Kuala Lumpur
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 31: Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front representatives held two days of peace talks in Malaysia during the week.
Later, Manila’s chief negotiator, Rafael Seguis, issued a statement saying: “I wish to clarify that there is no agreement yet. Both sides are still in the early stages of discussing each other's position papers.”
The Philippines Congress would have to approve any proposals at the talks that affected the country’s legislation or policy, he said.
Malaysian facilitator of the talks, Othman bin Abdul Razak, said negotiators had reviewed each other's draft positions and would meet again on February 18-19 to “identify the next steps towards achieving a comprehensive, compact and a negotiated solution.”
Members of the International Monitoring team would also return to Mindanao before the end of February after an absence of 14 months.
The Mindanews reports that the negotiators had exchanged “very divergent drafts” dealing with the proposed Comprehensive Compact.
The Macapagal-Arroyo government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front have already agreed to expand the mandate of the International Monitoring Team.
The new mandate will have the international team monitor, verify and report non-compliance by the signatories to their basic undertaking to protect civilian communities.
It specifies that the Philippine government and the liberation front “shall designate humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations, both international and national, with proven track record for impartiality, neutrality and independence, to carry out the civilian protection function.”
The government and the liberation front agreed to resume the Malaysia-government-brokered talks on Tuesday, September 15.
Their resumption followed a meeting to organize a newly-established International Contact Group, or ICG, for the southern Philippines was held in Manila last Friday.
Members of the initial ICG are Britain, Japan and Turkey; the Asia Foundation; the Geneva-based Humanitarian Dialogue Centre; the London-based Conciliation Resources and Indonesia’s Muhammadiyah as members of the International Nongovernmental Organisations.
The earlier peace talks failed when the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for Ancestral Domain was aborted.
The proposed agreement between the Philippines Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to expand and extend the power of the Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines was abandoned just hours before it was due to be signed in August last year after 15 judges of the Philippines Supreme Court issued an order temporarily restraining the ceremony.
The judges later found the agreement unconstitutional.
The Philippines military’s subsequent pursuit of the “rogue” Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders forced a team of peace keepers from Brunei, Libya, Japan and Malaysia to withdraw from the peace-keeping team.
Waves of Christian immigrants from other parts of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines have settled in Mindanao – long the homeland of Muslims and indigenous peoples.
The Southeast Asian Times

“Third party” organised murder, says Antasari Azhar

Former Antasari Azhar, 56, has told his trial judges that a third party had organised the murder of State-owned enterprise Putra Rajawali Banjaran executive Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, 45, in order to remove him as Corruption Eradication Commission chairman

From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 30: Antasari Azhar, 56, has told his trial judges that a “third party” had organised the murder of State-owned enterprise Putra Rajawali Banjaran director Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, 45, in order to remove him as Corruption Eradication Commission chairman.
“Under my leadership, the Corruption Eradication Commission had successfully nailed a significant numbers of lawmakers, country officials and prominent figures in various graft cases,” he said while delivering his defence in the South Jakarta District Court.
“There is no doubt that there were parties who did not like this and wanted to tackle our fight against corruption in the country.”
The former chairman said he was overseeing the Election Commission’s procurement of information technology when a ride-by hit man assassinated Nasruddin Zulkarnaen near the Modernland golf course in Tangerang last March.
The investigation was about the regulation of fees paid by the central and provincial administrations well as procurement of an integrated radio communications system.
The investigation had sparked an attempt to bribe the commission, he said.
The former chairman said that new facts revealed during this trial showed that he had not been linked with the murder he was accused of having organised.
“I once thought it was Nasruddin who had threatened my wife via phone calls when we were in Bali on Jan.1, 2009. But then I realized our conflict was over. So, I believe there was a third party who took advantage of our dispute,” he said.
Nasruddin Zulkarnaen had sent a text message and had accused him of harassing his third wife Rhani Juliani.
“But then we met and I explained to him that I never did such a thing,” he said.
“There were two people. First, there was a male voice who warned me not to pursue corruption cases so rigorously. Then, there was a female voice who said she was too tired from ‘serving’ me every night,” he said.
Chief prosecutor Cirus Sinaga has asked the judges to sentence the former Corruption Eradication to death for premeditated murder.
Prosecutors at separate trials have also sought the execution of former policeman Williardi Wizar, who is accused of organising the logistics for the slaying and media proprietor called Sigid Haryo Wibisono, who was accused of financing the hit men.
Five other men have already been sentenced to up to 20 years in jail for their part in the assassination of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.
Prosecutors say the former chairman had a sexual liaison with the dead man’s third wife, golf caddy Rani Juliani.
Prosecutors alleged he organised the slaying to prevent the dead many from any blackmail effort.
The young woman has told the judges of a brief sexual contact with the former chairman and the prosecution also presented a text message in which he appeared to threaten her husband.
But the accuse has steadfastly maintained his innocence, denies any dalliance and Williardi Wizar told his trial judges in November that his fellow police officer had coerced him into giving evidence against the former chairman.
The judges are scheduled to deliver their verdict on Thursday, February 11.
The Southeast Asian Times

Abused maid sues her former employer and her husband
From News Reports:
Kuala Lumpur, January 30: Abused Indonesian maid Nirmala Bonat, 26, is seeking a total about ringgit 39,000, about US$11,417.53, from her former employer.
The young woman from Kupang, West Timor, is seeking the money from her former employers Yim Pek Ha, 43, and her husband Hii Ik Ting for whom she worked for about nine months.
Part of the money is for pain, humiliation and physical and mental anguish and the remainder for loss of income.
Her lawyer Kavimani lodged her claim with the High Court civil registry earlier this week and told The Star newspaper that she would serve a copy of the document to the couple next week.
In December, mother-of-four Yim Pek Ha had her ringit 200,000 bail extended while she appeals the guilty verdict and a sentence of 12 – rather than 18 years in jail – for causing grievous hurt to the maid about five years ago.
High Court judicial commissioner Azman Abdullah reduced the sentence delivered the former air attendant and boutique-shop proprietor in November 2008 after hearing her appeal.
In doing so, the judicial commissioner reduced the sentence for two of the charges from 18 years to five; acquitted her of a third charge, but sentenced her to two years in jail after finding her guilty of a fourth charge – breaking her maid’s nose with a steel cup.
The sentences are concurrent.
The prosecution had wanted the 18-year sentence made consecutive for a total of 54 years in jail and would ask the appeals court to have the new sentence served consecutively, said deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran.
Yim Pek Ha’s children are aged from five to 11 and the judicial commissioner said he had taken this, and the fact that the woman was a first offender, into account when imposing sentence.
Yim Pek Ha was charged with four counts of causing grievous hurt to Nirmala Bonet West Timor, - twice with a hot iron, hot water and a metal cup at her house in Villa Putera, Jalan Tun Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, in January, March, April and May 2004.
The judicial commissioner convicted her of the fourth charge on the grounds that the trial judge Akhtar Tahir had erred in acquitting her.
In acquitting Yim Pek Ha of burning Nirmala Bonet with a hot iron -the third charge- because of the ambiguity about when the assault actually happened, the judicial commissioner said: “The victim testified that it happened in March but according to the charge sheet, the incident happened in April.
“The prosecution should have amended the charge,” he said.
The Southeast Asian Times

Thousands of Indonesians rally against their President

About 10,000 Indonesians demand “free education and health” during a rally marking the 100th day of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second term in Jakarta yesterday

From News Reports:
Jakarta, January 29: Thousands of Indonesians took to the streets throughout the archipelago yesterday to condemn the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government after its first 100 days in office.
The demonstrations were held outside the presidential palace in Jakarta – the president was in Banten, about 90 kilometres away for the opening of a coal-fired power station - and other cities including Surabaya and Makassar.
In Ambon, the protesters tried to storm the governor's office and burned a poster of the president.
Focus of the protests was corruption and perceived mismanagement although the newly-ratified Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China free trade agreement as well as the government’s “neoliberal” economic policies.
The policies are personified by Australia-United States-educated deputy President Boediono who served as Bank Indonesia president before the presidential election.
“The Asean-China free trade agreement is what you get from a government that is neoliberal and capitalistic,” rally coordinator Agus Supriyanto told reporters.
“To expect us to make the people prosper within just 100 days is just impossible,” responded the president who was in Banten for the opening of a new coal-fired power station.
“The 100-day programmes have become like hits songs in the charts. Everyone talks about the 100-day programmes. I worry about the people who are happy making threats,” he said.
The Southeast Asian Times

Thaksin Shinawarta wife stopped from selling land

From News Reports: Bangkok, January 29: Judges of Thailand’s Civil Court has granted the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund an injunction that prohibits Khunying Potjaman, 52, the former wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin from selling 33 rai, about 206.5 hectares, central Bangkok. The fund is seeking the return of the land – over four plots – for the baht 772 million it sold it to her in 2003. The injunction prohibits any sale of the land until a legal settlement. In October, nine judges of Thailand’s Supreme Court voted five votes to four to find Thaksin Shinawarta, 59, guilty of corruption and sentenced him to two years in jail. Khunying Potjaman, 52, the former wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin has been stopped from selling 33 rai, about 206.5 hectares, central Bangkok

But his then wife was found not guilty.
The judges found the former Prime Minister guilty of violating articles of the National Counter Corruption Commission law that forbids holders of public office and their spouses from entering into a contract with the State.
The charges spring from his wife’s purchase of State-owned prime land in Bangkok’s Thiam Ruam Mit Road in the Ratchadaphisek business district at an auction arranged by the Bank of Thailand's Finance Development Fund.
The judges voted 7-2 to find Khunying Potjaman not guilty because she was not a State
The Office of the Attorney-General has told the fund to return the money and demand the return of the land.
Khunying Potjaman has asked the fund to pay her 800 million baht, the 772 million baht she paid, plus compensation and 7.5 percent yearly interest.
The judges set Wednesday June 2 to begin hearing whether Khunying Potjaman should return the land.
In July 2008, Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Pramote Pipatpramote found Khunying Potjaman guilty of tax evasion and sentenced her to three years jail.
She was allowed bail of baht 5 million pending an appeal.
The Southeast Asian Times

Romanian diplomat named as hit-run killer driver

From News Reports: Singapore, January 29: Romanian Charge d'Affaires Silviu Ionescu was the driver of an Audi 46 sedan that killed one person and injured two others Principal Senior State Counsel Lau Wing Yum has told Singapore Coroner Victor Yeo. Dr Ionescu, 49, ran two red lights and hit three pedestrians in separate accidents while driving the Audi A6 sedan on Tuesday, December 15, the lawyer said. Less than an hour later, he made a false police report that the car had been stolen. Three days later, he left Singapore. One of the three victims, Malaysian Tong Kok Wai, 30, died 10 days after he was struck. Malaysian Waiter Bong Hwee Haw, 24,and Singaporean Muhammad Haris Romanian Charge d'Affaires Silviu Ionescu has been identified as a hit-and-run driver who killed one man and injured two others in Singapore last month. He has since been recalled from his post by the Romanian Foreign Ministry

Abu Talib, 18, were injured.
Earlier this month a Singapore taxi driver produced a receipt that showed that Dr Silviu Ionescu called the police from his cab during the early morning after the fatal road accident.
The anonymous tax driver, 50, said that he had kept the receipt because he “felt weird when he (the passenger) asked how to contact the police.”
Dr Ionescu had told reporters that he had discovered his Audi A6 missing at about 3am.
He had lodged a complaint with the police to say his vehicle was missing about 4am.
The diplomat said he parked the car outside the gates at 1.30am after visiting a karaoke lounge in Peace Centre to meet some businessmen.
The Southeast Asian Times

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