LAKSAMANA.Net, July 25, 2004 11:49 PM
Review - Regions: Jakarta Accepts Tiro Ruling
Laksamana.Net - Jakarta accepts the Swedish prosecutors' decision to drop charges
against Hasan Tiro, the exiled former chief of the separatist Free Aceh Movement
(GAM), Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Tuesday (20/7/04).
Wirayuda, however, urged Sweden to continue the legal action against the self-styled
GAM leaders Zaini Abdullah and Malik Mahmood.
"We can understand the decision because, even in Indonesia, anyone can evade
charges due to the health reasons," Hassan told reporters.
Stockholm's chief prosecutor Tomas Linstrand decided on Friday to drop all charges
against Tiro, claiming that he was now merely a moral authority for the movement.
Sweden arrested Zaini and Malik last month. Tiro, 80, was not arrested due to his age
but was declared a suspect by Sweden's state prosecutors.
However, Zaini, who has Swedish citizenship and Malik, who has Singaporean
citizenship, were released after the court ruled that prosecutors had not presented
enough evidence to justify their detention.
Governor's Status Unclear
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has issued a decree suspending Aceh Governor
Abdullah Puteh. Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No.2/2004 requires Puteh to comply
with the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) probe into a graft case.
The KPK last month named Puteh as a suspect in a multimillion-dollar corruption
case over the 2002 purchase of a Russian-made Mi-2 helicopter, saying it had found
"sufficient preliminary evidence of corruption". The commission demanded that Puteh
be suspended after he said he was too busy with gubernatorial tasks to comply with
the investigation.
The "daily duties of the head of the local administration in Aceh will be taken over by
the deputy governor," according to the decree, which was released to the media on
Wednesday (21/7/04).
The Aceh administration would be run by the deputy governor, while Puteh's position
as the civil emergency administrator would be taken over by the Coordinating Minister
for Politics and Security Affairs, the instruction said.
The change, the instruction says, reflects the government's commitment to
eradicating corruption.
Investigators have accused Puteh of purchasing the helicopter on behalf of the local
government at an inflated price of Rp12.5 billion - at least Rp4 billion over the going
rate.
Puteh was quoted as saying the presidential instruction was a "clever regulation" as it
only delegated his duties to other figures but kept him in his current position.
He is likely to be allowed to retain his governorship. Despite stripping him of his
powers in order to face the graft inquiry, the instruction did not declare that Puteh be
"suspended" or "dismissed" from his top two responsibilities.
Constitutional law experts say the instruction leaves the door open for the governor to
rule again once the KPK is no longer questioning him.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno confirmed on Thursday that Puteh would still be
free to resume his duties as Aceh governor and the province's civil emergency
administrator after KPK has finished questioning him in the graft scam.
Eggi Sudjana, Puteh's lawyer, said his client had now dropped plans to sue the
President because her instruction did not dismiss him. The KPK is due to question
Puteh again on August 2
More rebels killed
The military (TNI) claimed it had killed 16 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, one of
them a commander, during separate clashes throughout last week.
The rebels were killed in separate encounters in four districts from Tuesday to Friday,
said Aceh military spokesman Asep Sapari.
Six were shot when soldiers raided their hide-out. One of the guerrillas was identified
as Isa, alias Raup, known in the area as a sub-district commander, he said.
Another was GAM's deputy operations commander Udin Abdullah, Sapari said. He
and two of his men died in a gunfight at Seulimum in Aceh Besar district on Tuesday
(20/7/04).
Eight suspected rebels surrendered to separate military outposts in four regencies,
said Sapari.
Later, TNI personnel shot and killed five suspected GAM members in separate
operations on Thursday and Friday, and eight more surrendered to the TNI on Friday
(23/7/04).
Also during the operations, the TNI seized an AK-56 rifle and 108 bullets, two rifle
magazines and two cellular phones.
Troops seized a Kalashnikov rifle, a handgun and ammunition from the rebels. Sapari
said rebels also killed a palm oil plantation worker at Rantau Peureulak in East Aceh
on Tuesday after abducting him.
Police Senior Commissioner Anjaya, a spokesman for Aceh's civil emergency
authority, announced Wednesday (21/7/04) that more than 230 suspected rebels have
been killed by the TNI since the end of martial law two months ago. Nine soldiers and
two policemen have also been killed between May and July
Over the same two-month period, 114 suspects have been arrested, and another 95
have surrendered, including six reported rebels who surrendered on Monday to the
security authorities.
One of the rebels, whose identity remained unclear, gave himself up in South Aceh
district while the other five -- Ramli, Saifuddin, Muhammda Anshari, M Dahlan and
Ahmad Jaiz -- surrendered in Aceh Jaya district.
Wholesale Graft at Lampung
The entire 75 members of Lampung legislative council may be named as suspects for
their alleged role in a collective graft scam similar to earlier scandals elsewhere in the
regions.
Local prosecutors said they were seeking permission from Minister of Home Affairs
Hari Sabarno to summon 61 of the 75 Lampung council members for questioning in a
scandal involving Rp23.5 billion ($2.6 million) from the 2001 and 2002 budgets.
"Our progress is being hampered because the minister has yet to respond to our
request in May for permission to question the councilors," head of Lampung
Prosecutor's Office, Wisnu Subroto, was quoted as saying on Monday (19/7/04).
Sabarno has reportedly issued permission to summon six of the 61 councilors and
eight others who had already been recalled from the council by their respective
parties. The 14 have been declared suspects in the same case.
Former Lampung governor Oemarsono could also be charged with involvement in the
same scam.
Lampung Prosecutor's Office investigation section head Maryono said there was
sufficient evidence to charge all 75 councilors with the collective scam.
He said his office has also questioned former Lampung council speaker Abbas Hadi
Sunyoto and several other former members.
All of those summoned as witnesses could be named as suspects, including former
governor Oemarsono.
The Rp23.5 billion graft allegations came to light following a report by the Development
Finance Comptroller (BPKP), which showed that more than Rp9.5 billion was
misappropriated from Lampung's 2001 budget, while Rp14 billion more was
embezzled from the 2002 budget.
Lampung Parliament Watch (LPW) coordinator Wahyu Sasongko told reporters the
amounts allocated for the council's expenses had violated Government Regulation No.
110/2000 on the financial status of regional councils.
In the 2002 budget, the Lampung legislature increased its routine expenditure by
32%, which included travel expenses that were raised from Rp3 billion to Rp7 billion,
and the sum of Rp4 billion for life insurance for all 75 legislators.
In April, a district court jailed almost all 55 members of the West Sumatra council for
graft. They remain free pending appeal.
New Province Approved
The East Kalimantan legislative council on Wednesday (21/7/04) approved plans to
create a North Kalimantan province, which will have one municipality and three
regencies.
The four areas that will make up the new province are the city of Tarakan and the
regencies of Nunukan, Malinau and Bulungan, all currently in north East Kalimantan.
A fourth regency, Berau, has refused to join the North Kalimantan province.
Deputy East Kalimantan Governor Yurnalis Ngayoh said that although his
administration backed the split of the province the act would need a presidential
decree declaring the establishment of North Kalimantan.
"What's important for us is that the new province will be able to afford to finance itself.
We don't want its establishment to create new problems," he pointed out. Outside the
council buildings, students carried banners supporting the split.
Tarakan Mayor Yusuf SK said East Kalimantan, which currently has 13 municipalities
and regencies, should be separated into two provinces in a bid to improve public
services.
'Welcome Money' in W. Java
After approving a Rp500 million clothing allowance for new councilors, the West Java
provincial council approved another Rp3.5 billion ($368,421) to cover the extra
expenses of incoming councilors, including their house renovations.
The new councilors, who were elected in the April 5 polls, will be inaugurated
sometime between August and September this year.
A document made available to reporters claims that of the Rp3.5 billion allocation,
Rp2 billion will be earmarked for renovating the official residences of the 100
councilors on Jl. Cipageran in Bandung, as well as the official residence of the
speaker of the council on Jl. Cipunegara.
Another Rp80 million will be used to buy new curtains for the provincial council
speaker's official residence. Mobile phones will be purchased for the speaker of the
council and his three deputies for Rp30 million.
The councilors will also receive Rp950 million in cash for accommodation and other
expenses while attending the upcoming inauguration ceremony and orientation
sessions.
The chairman of the budget committee at the provincial councilor, Ketut Sustiawan,
said the Rp3.5 billion budget allocation was legal because it had been approved by all
of the councilors and did not violate a decree issued by the Home Affairs Minister on
council budgets.
Danny Setiawan, the Governor of West Java, said he had heard nothing about the
allocation. He said the councilors had yet to present the council budget to the
provincial government.
The new budget allocation comes after the current group of councilors approved a
Rp500 million clothing allowance for the incoming councilors.
Megawati Urges Calm
President Megawati Sukarnoputri promised Christian leaders on Tuesday that police
would capture the gunmen responsible for killing a woman preacher in the provincial
capital of Palu on July 18/7/04 and urged them to stay calm.
A number of masked gunmen burst into a church in Palu and shot dead Protestant
minister Rev. Susianti Tinulele, 29, as she was delivering a sermon. Tinulele died on
the spot and four teenage churchgoers were wounded.
Top church leaders, who attended a meeting with the president in Jakarta, said she
urged Christians to stay calm and allow police to do their work.
"She has ordered police to catch the criminals. There is no religious motive. We
should not be provoked," reverend Nathan Setiabudi, head of the Indonesian
Communion of Churches (PGI), the country's coordinating Protestant body, told
reporters.
The killing was not religiously motivated, according to Setiabudi. "It was purely a
criminal act and the perpetrators have to be arrested," he said.
Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) chairman Ruyandi Hutasoit, who also met with the
president, said
"President Megawati said the attack had hurt the feelings of the religious community
in the country, so she immediately sent National Police chief Gen Da'i Bachtiar to
Palu."
Churches in Palu have called on followers not to retaliate, as the identities of the
gunmen were still not known. Palu is near the regency of Poso, where more than
2,000 people have died in Muslim-Christian clashes since 1999.
Five alleged members of the al Qaeda-linked militant Jemaah Islamiah network were
convicted in Palu on various charges under anti-terrorism laws in March.
Indonesia's national police chief arrived in Palu hours after the incident but police in
Palu have only a physical description of one of the five attackers.
Bomb Kills One
An explosion on Tuesday (19/7/04) killed one man and wounded two other people in a
village in the South Binjai district of North Sumatra, near the provincial capital, Medan.
National police spokesman Brig Gen Paiman said the blast "happened when people
were still sleeping in a hut in the middle of fields far from anywhere. One man died in
the incident."
Antara reported the blast came from a bomb, but Paiman said police had yet to
determine the cause.
"We really can't make conclusions here. Our men are there but the location is hard to
reach. We also want to know whether it came from inside or someone threw a device
in," he said.
New Police Chiefs
National Police chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar installed five new provincial police chiefs on
Wednesday (20/7/04).
He said the reshuffle in Jakarta, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, and West
Kalimantan was needed to keep the force operating effectively, following the
retirement of some high-ranking officers.
The changes follow the retirement of deputy National Police chief Comr. Gen.
Kadaryanto and National Narcotics Agency (BNN) operational chief Comr. Gen. Togar
Sianipar.
Insp. Gen. Firman Gani, former chief of the East Java Police, took over as Jakarta
Police chief from Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara, who has been promoted as BNN
operational chief.
Insp. Gen. Edi Sunarno left his post as North Sumatra Police chief and was appointed
to replace Gani, while former West Kalimantan Police chief Insp. Gen. Iwan Panji
replaced Sunarno.
Brig. Gen. Nanan Soekarna, a former Jakarta Police deputy chief, who was
succeeded by former deputy Police College governor Brig. Gen. Eko Danto, filled
Panji's former post.
The Central Java Police chief is now Insp. Gen. Chaerul Rasyid, who replaced Insp.
Gen. Ismerlda Lembang who, in turn, was promoted to National Police chief of
security affairs.
On Tuesday (20/7/04), Bachtiar inaugurated Comr. Gen. Adang Dorodjatun, a former
chief of security affairs, as deputy National Police chief in place of Kadaryanto.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman denied rumors that organizational
consolidation within the police force ahead of the presidential election runoff was
behind the latest rotation.
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