Gayus Tambunan: SBY Adopts A "Hands-On" Approach...

There is a limit to the "ummming" and "ahhhhing" that one's constituents can take before they start to get fidgety and demand a more hands-on approach to end what appears to be a never-ending lurch from one crisis to another. There is probably also a point that a president reaches where they can no longer look at themselves in the mirror without being horrified at their own incompetence. So, in many respects it is a "no-brainer" that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (or SBY to the masses) has decided to tell the nation that he has issued 12 presidential instructions and appointed the Vice President as his point man on the Gayus case.

Yet, the more hands on approach runs counter to the president's preference of the past. The president avoided getting involved in the shenanigans that saw two Corruption Eradication Commission commissioners investigated on fabricated evidence because he did not want to be seen to be interfering in the application of the prevailing laws and regulations. Yet, in this case he seems to think that it is time to meddle and sort things out.

Although his meddling is really an attempt to look like he is doing something without really doing anything at all. It is, for those of you familiar with the term, a "Clayton's Presidency"; the presidency you have when you are not having a presidency.

SBY has instructed law enforcement to cooperate. He has instructed law enforcement to engage the KPK in a more pro-active way in investigating the cases that have not already been investigated by the police. Oops, sorry Mr. President, but aren't the police implicated in some of these cases, and wouldn't having the police in charge of some of these investigations be a conflict of interest that is not all that different to letting the fox have the keys to the hen house? The KPK should be handling all these cases and the KPK must be given the mandate to re-open and re-investigate, if they so desire, any and all cases of their choosing. Anything short of this leaves you exposed to charges of favouritism and interfering in the drive to eradicate corruption.

One of the "biggies" that the president put forward was that it was time to adopt a reverse burden of proof. Simply, this means that the burden is no longer on the prosecution to prove the case, but the burden shifts to the accused to prove that they did not commit the crime that they stand accused of. The question that people should have of the president is where do you want to stop the reversal of the burden of proof? Is this just for corruption cases or is the intent to just reverse the presumption of innocence in favour of a presumption of guilt until such time as the accused can prove their innocence?

As a matter of interest, Mr President, how much smoke is needed to reverse this burden of proof? For example, if a citizen says that a bribe was demanded and then paid would this be sufficient to trigger the reversal and the accused receiver of the bribe have to prove they did not make the demand and accept the money or goods? What happens if someone accuses the president of having acquired wealth during a stint in the army from illicit means? Would the president then be required to prove the origin of their wealth? Is it not the case that the wealth reports that elected and appointed officials in government must complete designed for this purpose.

Reversing the burden of proof is a double-edged sword and a very slippery slope. In any event, one must ask whether a reversal of the burden of proof would have made any difference in this case?

But I digress.

The 12 Presidential Instructions in a nutshell are:

1. The National Police, Attorney General, and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights are to expedite the resolution of the Gayus case;
2. Increase the synergy between the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) and the Legal Mafia Eradication Unit. And, the KPK to become more involved in cases not yet "handled" by the police;
3. Performance audits of all those involved in the Gayus case;
4. All the companies mentioned in the case to date are to be investigated;
5. Reverse the burden of proof;
6. Relevant agencies are to search for, locate, and repatriate all state assets including any money obtained corruptly;
7. All officials who have violated the prevailing laws and regulations are to be punished accordingly (within a week);
8. Restructuring of all organisations and agencies that have been found wanting throughout the Gayus case;
9. Review and reform of work systems to ensure that future failures of this kind do not occur again;
10. The president to receive written reports on the progress of the implementation of these instructions;
11. Progress reports are to be made public so that the knows what has been done, what is being done, and what will be done with respect to the Gayus case; and
12. The Vice President is appointed to head-up the supervisory team, and the VP is to be assisted by the Legal Mafia Eradication Unit.

Just a personal note. I am not convinced that this is a more hands on approach. To me it reads as a statement to try and preserve personal public support for himself while maintaining enough distance that he is not fully hands-on and can claim later, when this does not get a positive result, that people did not do as he instructed them to and therefore it is "not my fault".

Ho hum...

Schapelle Corby and 12,000 Indonesians?

VIVAnews is reporting that the Australian Attorney General has made an offer to the Indonesian Attorney General that is essence goes along these lines:

"There are 12,000 Indonesians in Australian prisons with an average sentence of five years, we will trade those 12,000 for Schapelle Corby". At least this is the understanding of Babul Khoir Harahap, the Head of the Information Center at the Office of the Attorney General in Jakarta.

According to Harahap, the Attorney General of Indonesia has agreed. The matter has now been sent to the Minister for Law and Human Rights, Patrialis Akbar, for approval. My guess is that with a clemency appeal pending that this will also cross the desk of the President, SBY.

This offer apparently was provided by Roger Wilkis of the Attorney General's Department in Australia to the Attorney General of Indonesia, Basrief Arief. Australia's Ambassador, Greg Moriarty was also in attendance at this meeting of the minds.

Corby has received 17 months worth of remissions to date and this program of remissions is likely to accelerate as she serves more of her sentence. Nevertheless, the prospect of a "swap agreement" and immediate freedom must be a positive development for Corby in her current fragile mental state.

Then again, this story could be a beat-up or a complete misrepresentation of the discussions held and any offer made. It seems outrageous that the Australian government is going to swap 12,000 Indonesians convicted of crimes in Australia for one Australian convicted of a drug-possession crime in Indonesia. This must surely weaken Australia's bargaining position for other Australian prisoners doing time in Indonesian jails. What is Australia going to offer up for the release of members of the Bali Nine or more importantly to get those Bali Nine members on death row, off of death row?

I am not against the idea, in principle of a swap, but there needs to be a whole lot more information on what the swap entails. The response from the Australian public is not necessarily going to be favourable. There are plenty of Australians who think that Schapelle Corby has done enough time for the crime she was convicted of. However, they might not be so certain that she is worth 12,000 Indonesians in order to secure that early freedom.

This is certainly an interesting development if it pans out to be true.

Assange Entitled to Consular Assistance...

Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks and generally persona non grata, is to be afforded consular assistance if and or when he is arrested. This was confirmed by Robert McClelland, Attorney General of Australia and has been reported widely.

Nevertheless, consular assistance is something Australian citizens arrested abroad are entitled to. I have not heard of any instances where consular assistance was denied. It is also worth noting that the current moves to arrest Assange relate to a warrant that was issued relating to allegations of rape and sexual molestation in Sweden.

In any event, the Australian government went to some lengths to express its displeasure at Assange's work with Wikileaks by condemning the release of the diplomatic cables as something that puts at risk innocent lives of those working for the US and her allies. This displeasure was stated as "grossly irresponsible" behaviour on the part of Wikileaks.

Despite this assurance of consular assistance, it would seem that the Australian government is working at full-steam ahead to assist the US in building a case against Assange for the "illegal" publishing of the 250,000 diplomatic cables. It is also pretty clear that the Australian government would be looking to build a case and prosecute Assange if he were to return to Australia.

It would appear that the freedom Assange once enjoyed is slowly but surely evaporating away before his very own eyes.

The question now is, "if Assange is arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and subsequently jailed, will this stop Wikileaks or other sites that might be tempted to do similar work?"

Ariel Going to Trial on Monday...

The fact that this case is going to trial is symptomatic of the ills of the Indonesian justice system. It is also indicative of why most Indonesians are skeptical of claims that there has been serious reform happen in the legal system or is likely to happen. This is particularly so on the coattails of Gayus Tambunan who has been able to take at least 68 trips outside of his cell by paying off the relevant officials.

Anyways, Nazriel "Ariel" Irham of Peterpan fame and more recently of Peterporn fame is going to trial on Monday (22 November 2010) for his alleged role in the distribution of a couple of sex tapes starring himself and Luna Maya and Cut Tari. The trial will be in the district court in Bandung because the alleged act, distribution, took place in Bandung. Interestingly enough, the police have not been able to determine where the actual sex tapes were made.

Ariel has been in detention since 22 June 2010. It is time that he is either released of prosecuted. So, in that sense it is a good thing that this is heading towards a resolution with a trial date set. It is sad that it is going to trial at all.

Unfortunately, the trial is to be closed. According to the Acting Attorney General (well, an anonymous source), pornography trials are closed-door affairs. The rationale, presumably, is that the titillating details would be too much for most Indonesians and they would be influenced in a negative way by all the "perversion" that will come out as evidence in the course of the trial. The only real problem with that is that most people who would be watching the trial have already watched the 'offending' sex tapes either online or on their mobile phones.

There is no reason for this to be a closed trial. This case does not involve minors. The fact that it is closed gives rise to claims that the trial will be unfair. To ensure fairness, the appropriate course of action is to have this hearing as a public one. This is particular so considering that the prosecutors have backed away from pursuing charges for the production of the sex tapes and will be proceeding exclusively on the distribution charges as they are described in the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law.

If Babul Khoir Harahap is to be believed, then the whole prosecution case rests on what Ariel did not do. If this is true, then why is it that Luna Maya and Cut Tari are not being prosecuted at the same time? Simply, they also new about the sex tapes and did nothing to prevent their distribution.

When it is all said and done this is just a couple of sex tapes. There are millions of them out there in cyber space. Yes, there may be some morality questions to be argued here. Maybe there are even some religious concerns about pre-marital and adulterous sex. Yet, the law does not criminalise people for filming themselves in the throes of sexual gratification or orgasmic climax. The law does criminalise distribution if the perpetrator of that distribution is pro-active and consciously doing so. However, the law does not criminalise the failure to prevent distribution of a sex tape where you were unaware of the intended distribution.

Therefore, it would seem that the prosecution really needs to be able to prove that Ariel handed off the sex tapes to Redjoy, and that he knew Redjoy (Reza) was going to upload them to the internet. As far as I recall, Ariel and his amateur porn colleagues have always maintained that they were the victim of a crime, theft. On face value, it would seem that the prosecution is between a rock and a hard place in terms of proving this. Perhaps, there is a need for this to be a closed hearing!

Ho hum...

Deponeering and the KPK...

Will they or won't they, that is the question?

It seems every man, woman, child and perhaps some of our friends from further afield in the animal kingdom are weighing in with what the Office of the [Acting] Attorney General should do in the case of the "fabricated case". So, not one who like to be left out, I figure I will weigh in with a few "insights" of my own.

Deponeering is a legal remedy that the Attorney General has at their disposal to discontinue the prosecution of a case where the discontinuing is in the public interest. This case should not be deponeered. The simple reason is that there is nothing that is subject to deponeering. There is no case!

The case from the outset was a complete and utter fabrication. It was a fabrication constructed to tarnish the good names and reputations of two men whose crime was to passionately believe in the vision extolled by the current president to rid Indonesia of the scourge that is corruption. For their passion they were sent forth as sacrificial lambs by the president who they have so faithfully served.

What should, no, what must, happen with this case is that it should be dismissed with prejudice. There needs to be a very public apology issued to both men, Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, that states unequivocally that the case against them was fabricated, that there was never any evidence to sustain the allegations, and that they will be compensated if they so choose to pursue any civil claim.

Anas Urbaningrum, the Chair of the Democrat Party, has been vocal in expressing the Democrat Party view that the best course of action now is deponeering. I beg to differ. Mr. Urbaningrum represents the political vehicle of the president, and perhaps the deponeering view is the president's view as well. And, if it is the SBY view, then I would suggest that the president is a coward. Deponeering by its very nature can be interpreted as there is a case to be answered but rather than force the answers to be brought forth at trial the big picture of social and civil stability calls for a trial to be avoided.

Once again, it is time that the president stepped into the great abyss that is Indonesian politics and said, "This case is not going to be deponeered! There is no case to be answered! This case is going to be dismissed because the 'evidence' that it is based on is not evidence at all, but lies." Is this going to happen? No! Why won't it happen? It won't happen because deponeering is a face-saving measure where the president can claim that he was right not to get involved, that justice has run its course and justice has been done. The president has just about always been somewhat two-faced on anything that is significant to Indonesia making real progress.

Once again, deponeering this case is not justice served, it is justice denied.

Corruption and SBY...

"My President is not capable of stopping corruption! Save the KPK! Save Indonesia!"

It has an almost "Hereos" ring to it, "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World!".

But, the reality is that nothing is likely to save the presidential legacy of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. There is little likelihood that the dysfunction that is the SBY presidency will generate any debate like the Soeharto presidency. There will simply be no debate as to whether SBY should be declared a national hero. It is sort of like not cleaning up spilled wine straight away; the longer you leave it the more ingrained the stain!

The funny here, in that really perverse kind of a way, is that SBY came to the Indonesian presidency on a promise that he has not been able to keep; rooting out and eradicating corruption. The problem, corruption, is big. Yet, when Indonesia most needed leadership, SBY has been missing in action. Some might want to argue that SBY is the Teflon president. I would suggest that nothing ever sticks because he is not there to start with as all the hard yards are done by others and then spun by those closest to the president to intimate that he was at the forefront of any response.

To the contrary, why is it that corruption still exists on such a grand scale six years into the SBY presidency? Although, I am waiting for the presidential spokespeople to start spinning the apparent decision of the office of the attorney general to allow prosecutors to drop the fabricated case against Bibit and Chandra. It would be just too funny now for the spin to come that the president worked hard behind the scenes to see that the case was dropped, particularly after the claims that he had to keep arm's length and let the judicial process take its natural course.

Unfortunately, Mr. President, there was never anything natural about this case from the start. It was a "stitch-up" and an attempt to forever smear the reputations of two good, decent, and honest men who put all those personal traits on the line to fight your war against corruption! These men are the epitome of the testicular fortitude that you yourself lack. I am sure in the future that you will not see Bibit or Chandra lobbying to become national heroes. Two good men who are more concerned about the direction of their nation and the futures of their children and grandchildren! Now, if you ever need some pointers on how to maintain dignity and lead in times where the forces of evil line up against you, then you should give them a call; you might learn a thing or two.

Mr. President, it's time for a little 20 / 15 vision!

Peterporn...

The Peterporn saga continues unabated but slowly. There is so little happening in this case, and that which does happen takes so long, that it is a wonder that anyone even cares about it. Yet, it has all the key ingredients for great gossip and as such will serve to satiate the Indonesian appetite for celebrity gossip for sometime to come.

The key is that there has been rumoured to be some 32 tapes of Ariel of Peterpan fame bedding a bevy of women, all of whom are Indonesian celebrities of various fame and stature.

I was reading recently that another tape has surface in Sulawesi of all places. It reportedly shows Ariel (aka Nazril Irham) getting down and dirty with Bunga Citra Lestari (aka BCL). This tape has been conveniently converted to the DVD format and is being sold for between IDR 50,000 and IDR 450,000 on the streets. Now, a quick survey of the internet highlights that the clip is supposedly available for download from Rapidshare and Torrentbit, among others. Unfortunately, these all require registration before a download can be initiated, I am just not that interested in downloading the clip. Besides, if it really does exist then it won't be too long before it pops up in a much easier place for download, like YouTube or on someone's blog.

The latest development, as far as I can tell, is that the police have arrested eight people for allegedly being involved in the uploading of the two confirmed videos to date, Luna Maya and Cut Tari. However, the police, by their own admission are doing it tough in the investigation phase as they have not been able to uncover the 'missing link'. This is specifically how did the videos get to those who allegedly uploaded them to the internet.

The case theory is that someone close to Ariel 'passed' them on. Ariel's ex-wife, Sarah Amalia, has been interviewed by police, but police have not suggested that she is a suspect or in anyway involved in the dissemination of the tapes / videos. The police though have not been able to prove this missing link yet. So, it remains nothing more than a theory.

The police have also explained that their failure to move on the two women allegedly depicted in the tapes is that the police have some conflicting expert opinions to sort through before deciding on a legal basis to proceed. As is the tendency in Indonesia, the police want to ensure that the case is legally solid before proceeding. The idea being that the more solid the case is the less likely there is to be an acquittal. On a side, and completely unrelated note, perhaps the police should have thought about this idea when pursuing the Commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission. And, perhaps it is something that the Office of the Attorney General might want to consider in determining to end those shenanigans.

Postscript...
The Jakarta Globe are reporting that the police have "changed positions on the sex tape", no pun intended I am sure, and the eight previously arrested have had their status changed from suspects to witnesses. Sounds like things are not going so well on the investigation front.

The Case Against Chandra and Bibit -- Dropped!

It was time that these shenanigans came to an end. The fact that this 'case' ran as long as it did is an embarrassment to the Indonesian Police, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia. When leadership was called form it was severely lacking from those elected and appointed to leadership positions. Instead it was people power and the power of those people voicing their concerns about the need for justice through the media that spurred the courts into action and the ultimate resolution of this issue.

However, whether the issue is finished is really a moot point considering that the underlying issues remain unresolved. The dedication of the police and the AGO in wanting to see this case go to trial raises myriad of questions, and the fact that there seems to be some intent of seeing the instigator, Anggodo, pursued through the courts, then the simple reality is that Chandra and Bibit, and the mistrust between the various law enforcement agencies of Indonesia seems set to linger for some time yet.

The AGO has decided that it is not going to pursue the charges in the public interest. And, it would seem that the President's office is busy drafting and finalizing an order of reinstatement that will see both Chandra and Bibit returned to their rightful places as KPK Commissioners. However, what has not been addressed is the damage to their reputations as a consequence of this long-running unsavoury incident.

The AGO seems intent on continuing to perpetuate the fallacy that there was enough 'evidence' available to the police and the AGO to continue this case to trial. Marwan Effendy, the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, said as much in his statement indicating the intent of the AGO to drop the case.

According to Effendy, the psychological and moral consequences that would arise as a result of the trial would not have warranted the trial going forward. So, the AGO bowed to public pressure. OK, but this is not where Effendy decided to stop. Instead, Effendy went on to say that the charges were valid, that Chandra and Bibit did not understand the anti-corruption law and that neither of them realized the consequences of their actions in breaching the provisions of the law.

Simply, in other words the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes is saying we would have garnered a conviction, but a conviction is not in the public interest. In essence, Chandra and Bibit are guilty as charged, but the AGO in their infinite wisdom and intimate understanding of the public's need to eliminate corruption has decided to not do its job. Alternatively, this could be a simple case of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes continuing the defamation of the good name and character of both Chandra and Bibit.

Perhaps a trial would have been the best option. A trial would have presented an opportunity to Chandra and Bibit to be exonerated of the charges and clear the mud thrown at them. A trial would have also highlighted the lengths that the police and the AGO had gone to fabricate a case.

Admittedly, there are arguments that the trial might have gone the other way and confirmed guilt, but if the police or the AGO really had that evidence then it would be an outrage not to pursue it; corruption within the Corruption Eradication Commission. It could be argued that there would not be a bigger case, or a sweeter one, than busting the corruption busters up to their eyeballs in extortion and bribery while feathering their own nests.

The moral of this story is that corruption is alive and well in Indonesia, that it is facilitated and perpetuated by those in positions of authority or power, but that good is more regularly triumphing over evil. There is a long way to go, but perhaps this is a first step in the next phase of the corruption fight.

A final note. The case might have been dropped, and Chandra and Bibit will return to their respective positions at the KPK. However, much damage has been done to their reputations, and it must be part of the process of healing that the dropping of the case includes rehabilitation of their names and reputations. Anything short of a full apology is a slap in the face. The police allowed the fabrication of a case, the AGO kept the fabrication going, and the president refused to step in and discipline those responsible. Yes, an apology is warranted and justified. It is time that the president was presidential enough to step up to the plate and make it.

Come on Mr. President, what are you waiting for?

Bye Bye Chief of Police, Bye Bye Chief of Detectives...

The game might very well be up for both the Chief of Police, Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, and the Chief of Detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji. That game being their employment in their current positions. Any attempt to maintain them by the president will be a mortal wound for the president as both the Chiefs are tainted beyond salvation. In essence, the president himself signed off on the pink slips when he created the fact-finding team, and then tasked that team with uncovering the truth.

There remain questions of independence considering the president appointed a team to uncover the mentioning of his name in a some wire-tapped conversations. However, the fact-finding team was always going to find that there was no evidence against Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Rianto because there was none to start with.

Indonesian law in its current form would not sustain the trumped-up criminalization of authority charges, and the alleged corruption has to-date not been proved. In fact, there is not even enough in police hands at the moment to even formulate the charge.

The fact finding team is supposedly going to send an interim report to the president that states that there is not enough evidence to proceed against Chandra and Bibit, either on the current charge or the alleged corruption. The president can no longer sit back and say that he is going to let this charade run its legal course. That course is done. The charges against Chandra and Bibit must be dropped and they must be reinstated immediately to their positions as Commissioners on the Corruption Eradication Commission.

This farce has already damaged the president, and any feet-dragging on his part once the fact finding team reports will only further damage his credibility as a corruption fighter.

If the president is worth his salt, then the Chief of Police will resign, or be dismissed, within 24 hours of the fact finding team's report (assuming that they report that there is not enough evidence to proceed). Quite simply, the Chief of Police used a Parliamentary Commission to state publicly that the police had enough evidence to proceed against Chandra on the corruption allegations. This would seem to be a clear case of putting the cart before the horse.

In simple terms, the Chief of Police lied, and he seemingly has misled and lied to the parliament about the state of the police investigation into the allegations.

Furthermore, the Chief of Detectives must also resign or be dismissed. After all this was his own personal vendetta or war against the KPK, and he has been found wanting in the honesty and integrity department. This is in spite of any claims he may have made as God is his witness that he never received any bribes. Whether he did or did not is irrelevant. His pursuit of Chandra and Bibit was a clear abuse of power on his part, and that in itself is sufficient for him to fall on his own sword and resign. If he does not have the desire or courage to fall on his sword, then the president needs to ensure that the man is dismissed from his position.

Once the president has taken the opportunity to clear out the dead wood from the police force, he must then turn his attention to the Office of the Attorney General (AGO). Heads will also need to roll there. And, those heads must continue to roll until a new Attorney General is appointed. Best case scenario for the next AG is that it is a lawyer of good standing and a clean reputation. It cannot be an internal promotion from within the ranks of the AGO as the AGO has shown that as an institution it is tainted with corruption.

The reality is that an outsider with a mandate and the support of the president will have a foot up in terms of cleaning house and setting the AGO on the path of real reform.

This would seemingly be the perfect opportunity for the president to clean house, and start fulfilling the promise of corruption eradication, clean governance, and a brighter future free from institutionalized corruption for all Indonesians.

Postscript...

I should add that the Deputy Attorney General, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, and the Chief of Detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, have tendered resignations.

Death Threats and the Cicak vs. Buaya Shenanigans...

It would seem that the current shenanigans between the Cicak (pro-KPK) and the Buaya (pro-police / ago / establishment) is far more serious than many have been believing. The death threats are something that I have been aware of for a while. They are only now becoming publicly known. It is a scary and sad turn of events that planned assassinations are still the preferred method of silencing dissent.

Indonesia has learned nothing from the ongoing debacle that is the investigation into the assassination of Munir Said Thalib or as he is affectionately known by those who knew him, Munir. Or perhaps, the powers that be have in fact learned a thing or two. Specifically, they have learned that under the false promises and weak leadership of the current president that they can in essence murder with impunity. Some might wonder whether this statement is fair on the president, I would encourage you to think about Munir's widow, Suciwati, and children and then rethink what fair is, rethink what justice is, and then rethink whether the promises made by SBY to not only uncover the culprits, but to punish them to the full extent of the law have been fulfilled?

There has been some open speculation that perhaps Chandra M Hamzah has been targeted for assassination. This open speculation includes several law enforcers suggesting that the man has been targeted. This seems to be somewhat extreme for what the police have decided is nothing more than an abuse of power relating to the imposing and later revoking of a travel ban. The thought that there has even been talk of an assassination should be considered indicative of a much bigger "issue" needing to be covered up and buried.

I cannot imagine what Chandra and his family must be feeling knowing that his desire for public service and the desire to see Indonesia develop into a better country puts him at the forefront for political assassination. What is truly bizarre is that the police and others have gone to such lengths to frame Chandra and Bibit, but have come up empty handed on the evidence front.

Very amateurish to say the least but perhaps highlights why there is now talk of death threats and assassinations; if you cannot silence them through trumped up charges then there is always the belief that dead men tell no tales.

Perhaps what is more frightening about this than the threat itself is that the law enforcers were recorded talking about it in the first place. Assassinations that involve law enforcement agencies do not generally take place without an order coming from much higher up the chain of command. It is rare that the foot soldiers tasked with committing the murder hatch the plot themselves. Simply, the foot soldier have the least to gain and the most to lose.

This is the threat played at the Constitutional Court today:

"Kalau Chandra sampai masuk tahanan, biar kita habisi sekalian." Which loosely translated says: "If Chandra is detained, then let's finish him at the same time." This prompted one of his lawyers, Bambang Widjojanto to request that Chandra be released into protective custody for his own safety. However, the reality is that any request of this kind is in vain. The Constitutional Court's powers do not extend to making an order to force the police to release Chandra into protective custody, at least in the opinion of the Chief Justice of the court, Mahfud MD.

Why post? This is serious! A man's life is at stake, and it is my belief that the more people that know about this development, then the less likely it is to happen. At least this is the hope.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XXII -- Daisy Going to Jail?

The pressure is mounting on the Indonesian authorities to act on the allegations and complaints that Daisy Fajarina is guilty of abusing a domestic servant under her care whilst in France and that Daisy has been convicted of those crimes in France. It is alleged that Daisy is on the run from French authorities and that there is an Interpol Red Notice out for her.

The maid, Shaleha (Shaliha) Lanti, with the assistance of Ratna Sarumpaet, has filed a complaint at the Office of the Attorney General. In essence, the complaint states that Daisy is a convicted criminal and on the run, and that the Indonesian authorities need to be more pro-active in ensuring that Daisy faces justice for her crimes.

According to Ratna, the Deputy Attorney General for General Crimes, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, suggested that the Office of the Attorney General would be ready to assist if there was an order from Interpol. The Red Notice, if it exists as it is claimed, would be sufficient for this purpose. The question then becomes, "are the Indonesian authorities serious about facilitating the return of Daisy to France or merely paying lip service to the idea?"

The saga continues.

No apologies for boring you. If you do not care anymore about the case, then just skip the Manohara posts :D

Enjoy your weekend.

Underage Gambling in Indonesia -- Big Time Crime?

Gambling is illegal in Indonesia. This does not mean it does not happen. There is probably a case to made for instances of gambling and then gambling. The point here is that organized gambling is clearly against the law and any attempt to regulate it into existence has met with fierce opposition. Then there is gambling that kids partake in like having a flutter on the outcome of a coin toss. The first one sees hundreds of millions of Rupiah change hands and the other is lucky if it sees tens of Rupiah change hands.

A recent case that was heard in Tangerang District court has ended with ten children being convicted of gambling. Their punishment to date is that they have been sent home with their parents. The result is clearly not the right one. The case should never have even seen the light of day. But, it did and it highlights the lunacy of the law enforcement system in Indonesia. Anyone who argues that reform is taking hold is kidding themselves.

The lawyer of the children intends to appeal the decision. If I can help out from afar, then I would be more than willing to do so. The idea that these children were ever in detention was outrageous. The fact that they have been convicted is just as outrageous. The Attorney General should have instructed prosecutors to drop the case. The fact that he did not indicates where the priorities lay. I would also suggest that the masks provided hardly are sufficient to conceal the identities of these children, so the Tangerang prosecutors have failed in this regard as well.

There must be something in the water out Tangerang way. These are the prosecutors from the same Tangerang office that placed a young mother of two, Prita Mulyasari, in jail for writing a letter complaining about the service she received from the Omni International Hospital. There must be absolutely no serious crime in Tangerang that these prosecutors have nothing better to spend their time on than jailing young children and mothers.

This is a case that must capture more people's imagination and not just in Indonesia but further afield. An excellent piece, some might call it an enlightened and educated rage against the machine was written by a resident expat in Indonesia, Patrick Guntensperger, and can be found here.

The stupidity of the whole affair is that there are hardened criminals and organized criminal activities continuing to go about their ways without any concern at all about being arrested or brought to justice. Now, whether this is because they have connections to the right people or pay the necessary "fees" to avoid trouble, I will leave to you and your imaginations. However, the lawyer for the ten children, Kristin Tambunan, has a point when she asks, "since when is playing a crime?" This becomes even more absurd when one considers that these children are currently convicted criminals because they were tossing coins to fill in time between shoe shining gigs.

The conviction of these children is, plain and simple, wrong. The appeal must be accepted on the grounds that the judges erred in allowing the case to proceed, as the prevailing laws and regulations clearly state that the prosecution of children is a last resort. The verdict must be vacated and these children need to be allowed to get on with their lives without the noose of convicted felon hanging around their neck.

What is the Office of the Public Prosecutor thinking?

Early November

It seems that there are a lot of things happening in November. The US is about to elect its next president and the murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas are to be executed.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office made the announcement on Friday that a date in early November is the most likely time for the three to be executed.

Appeal Denied -- What's Next?

It seems that the three cowards, AKA Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo courtesy of Reuters) have been thwarted once again, this time by the Constitutional Court. It seems that the Constitutional Court has adopted a position that says the whole point of the death penalty is to see the convicted person dead. In other words death sometimes hurts and in death penalty cases the method of execution may cause pain but this pain does not constitute torture and as such the method cannot be deemed to be cruel and unusual.

Therefore, the firing squad does not constitute a method of execution that is either cruel or unusual or, for that matter, inhuman. The Constitutional Court seems to concede that pain might be involved but that the pain is not enough to warrant any Court intervention in this matter. It is worth noting that even if the Court had found the firing squad to be cruel and unusual, these three would not have benefited as Constitutional Court decisions apply going forward and not retrospectively.

This means that there appears to be no further reasons for the delay of the executions. It is expected that the Attorney General, Hendarman Supandji, will announce the date and time of the executions on Friday. Executions are not normally announced prior to the execution taking place. I guess interest in the case is such that the government feels a pre-announcement is warranted.

Next update on Friday (unless there is something worth noting beforehand).

Bali Bombers -- Is It Time?

The information or misinformation coming out of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Attorney General's Office has lead to considerable confusion as to when the the murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo from here) are going to face the firing squad and finally get that opportunity to meet their maker and find out if there really are 72 virgins waiting for them.

The latest information out of the Attorney General's Office is that the execution is likely to happen within two weeks. There has been some suggestion that there is to be a "big" announcement on Friday of next week.

The bombings for which the three have been tried and convicted for carrying out happened a touch over six years ago. I remember them well as it is also the day of my wedding reception. My wife and I were married on 11 October 2002 and we had our reception the following day. We finally arrived back at our hotel after midnight and turned on the news. It made for an interesting day of mixed emotions.

My parents had been in Bali just two days before the bombings and if I had not been getting married probably would have still been there. They probably would not have been in Paddy's or the Sari Club. But, I did have friends that were.

Jasman Pandjaitan, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, has said that there are no longer any technicalities that might see further delays in the execution. This includes any decisions from the Constitutional Court. Even if the Constitutional Court was to decide that the firing squad was cruel and inhumane, then this decision would not apply to the Bali Bombers. The Constitutional Court rulings have traditional applied from the date of the decision going forward and have not to date been applied retrospectively.

Furthermore, it would be surprising if the location, date, and time of the execution was announced prior to the execution. Any announcement of the location would likely see large crowds gather of those for and against the executions. There will undoubtedly be an announcement after the executions take place and probably even the obligatory photos and video of the coffins being loaded into hearses.

It will be interesting to see if the executions result in any violence. All three have said that their executions will see swift retribution handed out to those who participate and have facilitated the executions.

It would seem that the countdown to execution has started.

May God have mercy on your murderous souls!

Amrozi, Samudra, Mukhlas

The public desire to see the sentence handed-down against Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas carried out has not reached fever pitch just yet. But, it is worth noting that the Attorney General, Herman Supandji, is coming under much more regular questioning about when the sentence is likely to be carried out. With a bit of luck this extra pressure will force the government into making sure the process is not being stalled for whatever reason.

The Attorney General is currently hiding behind the bureaucratic excuse that the requisite paperwork has not made its way from the courts, to the jail, and then to the OPP. This is convenient, but the government has been talking itself into a bit of a corner when it has said that it intends to ensure that the verdict is carried out before the start of the fasting month on 1 September.

By my reckoning there is less than 13 days to get the paperwork in order and get the deed done. If the bureaucracy fails to come through before 1 September, then I would imagine that a substantial lobby will form to ensure that the first thing the government does on 3 October after the Eid ul-Fitr is to see these three murderers put to death.

Just so none of you are confused here and try and read some hypocrisy into my rants. I am against the death penalty. My personal belief is that these three should rot in prison for the term of their natural lives. However, the sentence is what it is. If the death penalty is not going to apply, then it applies to none. But, if it is going to apply then it must be carried out in the same manner for all.

Thus endeth the sermon!

Enjoy your week.

Human Trafficking -- One for the Good Guys

Australia made a request under the provisions of the extradition treaty that it has with Indonesia that sought Indonesia's help in arresting Hadi Ali Asgar El Ahmadi. El Ahmadi is an Iraqi citizen and he is alleged to have trafficked some 900 people from the Middle East and Asia to Australia in the period from 1999 through to 2001. Most of these people are thought to have made their way through Indonesia.

Indonesia police arrested El Ahmadi at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on 29 June. The arrest is only now coming to light.

The Office of the Commonwealth Attorney General is playing its cards close to its chest and refusing to make any comments other than they are considering an extradition request. It would seem to be a lot more than that seeing they have already gone to the trouble of making the arrest request. Nevertheless, the Australian government has 45 days from the date of arrest to make a formal extradition request.

With a bit of luck Indonesia's assistance will continue and El Ahmadi will be extradited to Australia to face an Australian court for the alleged crimes he has committed.

Anwar Ibrahim -- New Sodomy Claims

One wonders why people want to get into public life and public service in the first place, but to be subject to constant allegations of sexual misconduct and to be able to keep the course and stay focused and want to stay in public service takes a person with a special level of conviction and call to duty.

The de facto Malaysian oppostion leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has been accused of committing sodomy against his 'special assistant'. Anwar is de facto opposition leader because he is not a parliamentarian as his previous corruption conviction meant that he was not able to run for a seat at the last election. However, it was expected that a seat would have been made available and a by-election held. Nevertheless, the latest claims throw this immediate plan into some disarray.

What the special assistant does will become clear over time I guess. However, I would not have thought that the 'special' part related to "special" services. Yet, who knows the truth? I do not, so I will be watching and reading with interest where this goes.

I guess, even though the original sodomy charges against Anwar back in 1998 were finally overturned by the Malaysian High Court in 2004. Anwar has consistently denied the original allegations and has denied these most recent ones. He contends it is an attempt to deflect attention away from claims Anwar was going to make against the national police chief and the attorney general for their alleged role in having him accused of corruption and sodomy in 1998.

Anwar has stated that he obtained evidence that implicates the Inspector General of Police, Musa Hassan, and the Attorney General, Gani Patail, of misconduct and fabricating evidence against him in 1998. This evidence is yet to be released but could be a bit of a bomb shell if it is.

This latest drama and series of allegations will continue the current turmoil in Malaysian politics. It is always interesting to see what lengths politicians will go to maintain their relevance and influence. This is particularly the case for the Barisan Nasional (National Front) which although retaining a simple majority were decimated at the last General Election.

I cannot help but wonder whether the special assistant is seeking to gain something and did not get it so a good old case of sodomy seems as good as anything else to run with as Anwar would seem to be an easy target on this front or is this a case of where there is smoke there is fire?

The Anwar saga takes another turn in an old direction and as I said I will be watching with interest as to how the story develops.