Post Fierce Slaughter, Mesuji People Find No More Peace

December 19, 2011 by

Mesuji slaughter has been a hot yet sad topic in Indonesia. There are suspicions that the killings were done by certain military personals. Wayan Sukadana, one of Pelita Jaya resident, said that his brother was shot at that incident. His statement was given at the documentary preview of the slaughter at Pelita Jaya

“That, that is my brother. He was shot from his buttocks and the bullet went through his stomach,” so he said on his speech at Kontras, Jakarta, last Friday. Other than violence, Mesuji people also lost their land to palm oil companies. Their houses are brought down and they also loose their jobs because of no land to plant. Hundreds of people now live at camps. Children no longer study at schools. Practically, Mesuji people loose their life.

“If you can smile, then we have lost our willing to smile because of fear,” said Neneng, one of Mesuji resident. She said that foods and water is difficult to obtain and education is no longer accessible.

“Human Rights violation case in Mesuji is complete. From the lightest until the heaviest case exists there,” said Bob Hasan. Public however thinks that government reaction is not as expected. Saurip Kadi, one of retired military general, said that government and human right commission is very slow in dealing with this case. At the government’s defense, Chief of Indonesia Police Department, General Timur Pradopo stated police takes neutral position toward this. It will always commit to keep everyone safe. It will try to be fair in carrying rules and regulations to all mesuji people.

(Adapted from Antara)

Filed Under: Indonesia Hot Issues, Social Politics Tagged With: , ,

President SBY Confirms; First Lady Will Not Go for the 2014 Election

December 19, 2011 by

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, both as Chief Mentor of Demokrat party and the President of the Indonesia confirms that the First Lady, Ani Yudhoyono, will not go for the 2014 presidential election. This statement is to end the public speculations on AY’s participation at the next election.

“The answer to a question if Mrs. Ani Yudhoyono will go as a presidential candidate or whether Demokrat will support her candidacy is 100% NO. There is no plan or whatsoever from Democrat to support her as a presidential candidate. Both Mrs. Ani and me have stated this several times,” said President SBY in his speech to Demokrat party leaders.

The president delivered this speech on a Demokrat party gathering attended by all of the party leaders including executive directors, senior officials of regional branches from all over Indonesia. At that occasion SBY also said that Demokrat has not yet decided who to carry for the next election. He said that to be a president and a vice not only needs political parties’ supports but most importantly is the support from all Indonesians.

Last statement from him was “There is a question to me, as a retired President is there anyone I will support to be the next President? I said that question is too early to ask. There is also another question if the next Indonesia president should be a fresh look? For me not just for first lady but most importantly is that the election should give an equality of opportunity for all.”

(Adapted from Kompas.com)

Filed Under: Indonesia Hot Issues, Social Politics Tagged With: , ,

9/11 Ambon: Another Horizontal Conflict in Indonesia

October 7, 2011 by

Not only the world commemorates the mourning of 9/11 tragedy, this year on September 11th Indonesia also mourns on a horizontal Ambon conflict between civilians in Ambon. Ambon is the capital city of Maluku. The conflict was a result of a simple misunderstanding of a traffic accident. It started when Darkin Saimen, a local people, rode his bike and crashed to a house on his way to Pos Benteng, a place in Ambon. He died. However, there was a rumor which said that Darkin was killed by the angry surrounding neighborhood because he caused damage to the house he crashed into. It is said that he was beaten to death by the people.

As a response, Darkin’s family and friends could not take the beating and they took revenge to the people where the accident took place. This expanded to a big chaos and fight. 4 people died as a result of this conflict.

The Head of PR Department of Indonesia Police Department stated that despite the autopsy report saying that there is no proof that Darkin was abused to death and that was pure single traffic accident, people lost their temper and created a big chaos in Ambon. He also said that the fight was between 2 infamous groups that often caused civilians conflicts.

“There were 2 groups throwing rocks to each other and vandalize several public facilities. However, police managed to control them. They were 2 well known groups, well… I don’t need to mention the name. Most importantly, now police has managed to stop the fight and control the situation. We are monitoring the situation and updates”, said Anton (kompas.com)

Ambon is one of the most beautiful cities in Indonesia. It has magnificent beach with superb corals and reefs. However, civilian conflicts often occurs there mostly are caused by tribal and religion issues. It is a classic problem to an area where a lot of transmigrates take place. To read about Ambon and its conflicts history read Ambon Conflict: A Closer Look to Indonesia

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Another Bombing Terror, Now It’s for Garuda Indonesia

October 7, 2011 by

An aircraft of Garuda Indonesia, flight number GA-601 from Manado to Jakarta was threaten with a bomb. Currently the plane is still quarantined by police at a remote area of Soekarno-Hatta International airport.

Garuda Indonesia’s spoke person Pujobroto acknowledges that he was informed of the bomb terror. The threat was in a form of faxed blackmail sent to one of national media right after the plane took off at 2 p.m. The letter also said that there is a C4 with a time detonator placed on the body of the plane. The bomb was planned to explode by 3.30 p.m. or 30 minutes before the plane landed. The flight was advised to conduct emergency landing and that the land crews should prepare for firearms. However, until theplane actually landed at Soekarno-Hatta there was no explosion or whatsoever as informed.

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Suspected to Involve in Garuda Indonesia Bombing Terror, 6 Arrested

October 7, 2011 by

Indonesia National Police Department arrests 6 people as suspects of Garuda bombing terror on Wednesday, October 10th. It was flight Garuda GA-601 from Manado to Jakarta terrorized with bomb. “Upon further interrogation to those suspects it is revealed that there was no bomb placed at the plane. It was just a threat. We have arrested the suspects, there are 6 of them. Initials? We cannot yet inform that,” stated Head of PR Division Indonesia Police Department, General Inspector Anton Bachrul Alam this Thursday.

Furthermore, Anton also stated police cannot yet reveal the motives behind this terror as further investigation is still ongoing. Thus, they will wait for the final investigation result then announce to public about that. At the same time, Head of PR Department of Garuda Indonesia, Pujobroto, said that the threat was received in form of faxed letter sent to one of national press’ office right after the plane took off. It was around 2 p.m. at noon. The letter said the plane that has just taken off carrying approximately 105 passengers is advised to do emergency landing back to Sam Ratulangi airport, Manado or to the nearest airport because there is a bomb inside.

Until the plane was landed at Soekarn-Hatta International airport, Jakarta, no explosion happened as informed in the blackmail. Even so, management team of Garuda Indonesia immediately anticipated that by isolating the aircraft. A team from police checked the craft but found no bomb.

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Albertina Ho: A New Hope for Justice in Indonesia

October 3, 2011 by

Indonesia now is in an era with no law certainty. In people’s opinion law can be bought and only people with monetary power can “win” against law and get fairness. Among this skepticism, there is a judge named Albertina Ho gives hope to the people for a fair and just law. She is currently appointed to handle several big law corruption cases. She’s trusted to handle the murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnain which involved Chief of Anti Corruption Commission (KPK) Antasari Azhar. Moreover, she handles the infamous 6.2 billion rupiah corruption case by an employee of Tax department, Gayus Halomoan Tambunan.

Her roles are very crucial now in keeping the law fair and just in Indonesia. She is well known to be a judge with high integrity and not afraid to give dissenting opinion at courts if she feels it’s the right and fair thing to do. However, it’s the power that determines the future of law in Indonesia. Recently, a decision has been made by the highest court (Mahkamah Agung) to relocate her to another province, Bangka Belitung. The court stated that this is a promotion for her considering her brilliant achievements. But of course, many suspect that her relocation is an attempt to “stop” her from handling the controversial cases, that it is anticipation so she won’t do any “damage” to the “Higher Power”.

Who is Albertina Ho? What has she achieved until she can be trusted to handle such important cases to the national political stability of Indonesia? Below is her timeline:

ALBERTINA HO

Born : Southeast Maluku, 1st of January 1960
Job : Civil Court Judge of South Jakarta

Carrier:
1. Candidate of Yogyakarta Civil Court Judge (1986-1990)
2. Slawi, Central Java, Civil Court Judge (1996-2002)
3. Temanggung, Central Java, Civil Court Judge
(2002-2005)
4. Cilacap, Central Java, Civil Court Judge (2005-2008)
5. Vice secretary of chief of The Highest Court, Judicial
division (2005-2008)
6. South Jakarta Civil Court Judge (since August 2008)

Education:
1. Ambon public elementary school, 1973 graduate
2. Catholic Junior High School, 1975 graduate
3. Public high school, SMAN II Ambon, 1979 graduate
4. Gadjah Mada University, Faculty of Law, 1985 graduate
5. Magister of Law, Jendral Soedirman University, 2004
graduate

Highlights:

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009
Member of judges of Romli Atmasasmita case for the corruption case of Law Administration project. Romli was sentenced 2 years in jail.

FEBRUARY 12, 2010
Gave her dissenting opinion on a case that sent Sigid Haryo Wibisono 15 years in jail for his active role in suggesting the murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnain. According to Albertina, Sigid must receive more years than that as he was convince proven to indirectly plan the murder.

JUNE 23, 2010
Was the head of the judges that sent Marsiyah to jail for 1 month with 2 month trial for abusing the sibling of her in laws.

Antasari Azhar

Can Albertina Solve This Case?


Gayus Halomoan Tambunan

The Corruptor of 6.2 Billion Case

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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Reviews on Cirebon and Solo Bombing

September 29, 2011 by

Thursday March 17, 6 months after the incident of a bomb package sent to his office located between Istana Merdeka and Istana Negara, President SBY made a statement, “Do not stop anticipating. Do not ever stop the intelligence activities which may increase the occurrence of such incident (the bomb package incident)”.

Above statement was a clear instruction for the chief of Intelligence Agency (BIN), police, military forces, especially commando territorial, to keep their hard work in fighting against terrorism and reveal the suspect of the bomb package at the same time.

He strictly highlighted that there is no other important thing than national safety and freedom from fear for civilians. Therefore, zero tolerance for any group who tries to disturb social peace in Indonesia. “Don’t give a chance even the slightest to anyone who plan to tear the peaceful and conducive living we’ve been trying to maintain this far. Do anything necessary to protect our people,” so he said.

4 days later, in a National celebration of Dharma Santi at the central military base Cilangkap, Jakarta, SBY stated that the dissemination of bombs has increased people’s anxiety. Even worse, it creates distrust among the people. SBY thinks that this is a form of terror to Indonesia.

Not long after, Friday April 15, at noon inside Adz-Zikro mosque, Cirebon-West Java, a suicide bombing happened. The bomber died with severe abdominal injuries. President condemned this action. Until April 15, Anti Terrorism Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) arrested 13 people suspected to be actively involved and confiscated various type of weapons.

When stating his antipathy towards Solo bombing on September 25, President stated from brief investigation bomber is suspected to be part of Cirebon bombing mafia. In his press release, he called for internal investigation inside police itself, intelligences and even the military forces. This is to make sure that military has done its part as expected in regards war against terrorism.

There was his statement from the speech he gave regarding the bomb package in his office, “Each and every soul, regardless the religious faith, wants to live safe and free. Therefore, we should nurture peace in our hearts. Peace is inside our hearts not shouted from fiery speech or sweet political statements.”

Tags: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Terrorism, Indonesia, Bombing

Picture of Solo Bomber

Picture of Solo Bomber

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Comission 1 of Indonesia Parliament Calls for Bigger Budget for Intelligence Agency

September 28, 2011 by

Responding to the recent Solo Bombing, commission I of Indonesian parliament suggest increasing national defense budget particularly for the intelligence agency. Represented by Max Sopacua, the commission has sounded their aspiration about ways to counter terrorism in Indonesia.

Max Sopacua said that this suggestion is sounded in a meeting with Chief of Indonesia Intelligence Agency, BIN, Sutanto. This is considered important because BIN’s work is crucial and very complex, particularly in dealing with terrorism and communal conflict allover Indonesia.

“For 2012, intelligence budget is only 1.2 trillions Rupiahs. Thinking about how complex and the vast coverage of BIN’s work, I think it is just normal to increase its budget. We should increase it to 2.5 trillions Rupiahs which included in National Budget,” said Max.

With that additional fund, BIN is expected to expand its coverage, not only focusing on certain areas such as eastern of Indonesia. The raise is for the sake of all people in Indonesia. “BIN should be seriously supported if we want to declare war against terrorism. Government right now has played its part well. It’s not true that it fails protecting its people,” add Max.

The other member of commission I, Tjahjo Kumolo, questioned regarding the Solo Bombing; whether or not information from BIN had been spread to all elements of government. “We would like to question the intelligence agency, BIN, regarding the Solo tragedy. We don’t want to speculate on whether Solo incident is a result of ignorance on intelligence information or not,” said Tjahjo.

Tags: Terrorism, Indonesia, Intelligence Agency, Bombing

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Still about Terrorism: Bombers, Who Are They?

September 27, 2011 by

Terrorists have just given Indonesia another shock. Just last Sunday, a suicide bomb exploded in Solo, Central Java. Again, religion is used as a camouflage of the truly intention of all terrorism activities. As a nation, Solo Bombing adds even more worry and misery to the already hard life. Speaking or terrorism and bombing, it is interesting to know who these martyrs are. Can they be our next door neighbor? Who are these people willing to sacrifice themselves to kill others that easy?

“Until recently, there hasn’t been any certain answer on who can potentially be suicide bombers. Many researches have been conducted to analyze the pattern of suicide bombings, ideas behind and motives; to be able to predict who are potentially recruited to be the martyrs. Yet, the result now is still debatable,” stated Reza Amriel, a forensic psychiatry.

According to a research, bomber is a psychopath. However, this is against the nature of a psychopath who usually wants to lift up their ego over others’. They want to exist thus eliminate others sometimes by murder. A psychopath would never sacrifice themselves for others’ death. Another research concludes that bombers are people with mental disorders. This theory too, is doubted because many bombings are well planned, well-designed and researched. This proves that bombers are somehow sane and mentally conscious. Although, it is possible that the martyrs aren’t the same person with the one who make the bombs and scenario.

The most common pattern is similar with Palestina and Israel; usually bombers in Indonesia are people with shallow understanding on religion preach. So, they are not newbie but they also haven’t understood the preaching thoroughly. That is why they can be easily provoked and tend to be militant.

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Dealing with Solo Bombing People Should Stay Calm

September 25, 2011 by

Just this morning another suicide bombing took place in Indonesia. The bomb exploded in Solo, Central Java at a local church called Bethel Injil Sepenuh. “We deeply regret about this tragedy. A church is a worshipping place. This is an insult towards God and Pancasila. Indonesia as a country where many religions are acknowledge should be able to take care of worshipping places, people that uses any means to destroy these places don’t deserve to live with us here in Indonesia. This hurts us as a nation,” stated Romo Benny at the main office of Anshor Youth Movement, Jakarta, on Sunday noon. At the same time Romo Benny also said that it is time for SBY to take concrete steps to prevent this from happening again and thank Anshor Youth Movement for their readiness in keeping the situation conducive after the bombing.
Chief of Anshor Youth Movement, Nusron Wahid, instructs to his people in Solo to be alarmed and actively involved in keeping all worshipping places safe. This order was released right after the bombing happened. Nusron believes that this bombing is a series of radicalization in the name of religion. “This must be a series of bombings. I don’t believe that this is a single incident.,” said Nusron. He also warns the government to take this incident seriously and to declare war against all forms of terrorism.
The bombing hurt at least 7 people this morning. Bombed was launched at 10.53 a.m. by a man around 30 years old, with a white shirt, a pair of black trousers and sneakers. The identity of the martyr has not yet been identified.

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