Greste 'devastated' by court verdict

Greste 'devastated' by court verdict

Peter Greste -one of the three Al-Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt this week- has said he is devastated and outraged by the verdict.

He said the trial had been an attempt to use the court to intimidate and silence critical voices in the media.In a statement issued by his brothers, who visited him in prison in Cairo, he said prosecutors had failed to provide a single piece of concrete evidence to support claims that he and his colleagues were guilty of spreading false news.

Mr Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed were given seven-year prison sentences on Monday, sparking an international outcry.

Thai general denies coup was planned

One of Thailand's most senior generals has denied that last month's military coup was planned in advance.

In a BBC interview, Lieutenant General Chatchalerm Chalermsukh rejected claims from a key political supporter of the coup that the military had been preparing for months to take over.

He said the detention of politicians, academics and activists was designed to give people time to cool off after a period of turmoil.

The general promised that a reconciliation process would start soon and denied that there was a climate of fear in Thailand.

A Malaysian diplomat charged with sexual assault

A Malaysian diplomat charged in New Zealand

 

This general view shows the exterior wall of the High Commission of Malaysia building in Wellington.

The Malaysian foreign ministry has confirmed that one of its diplomats has been charged with sexual assault in New Zealand.

A military officer at the Malaysian High Commission in Wellington, Mohammed Rizalman Bin Ismail, is alleged to have used his diplomatic immunity to leave the country.

The prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, said a request for the officer to be returned to face trial in New Zealand had been rejected.

Malaysia denies this, saying Mr Rizalman was recalled with New Zealand's consent, and his conduct will be investigated

Cameroon to investigate an alleged match-fixing

Cameroon's football authorities say they will investigate alleged match-fixing during their team's World Cup campaign in Brazil.

Attention will focus on a game against Croatia, which Cameroon lost 4-0 after having a player sent off in the first half. The investigation follows allegations in a German newspaper by a convicted match-fixer from Singapore.

More than half of the Guantanamo detainees to be transferred

More than half of the Guantanamo detainees to be transferred

The official in charge of overseeing the closure of the United States' controversial Guantanamo Bay prison facility expects more than half of the remaining detainees to be transferred within months.

He said Guantanamo's existence weakened national security, damaged relations with allies and was exorbitantly expensive.Clifford Sloan, the US Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure told the BBC that substantial progress had been made on repatriating or resettling 78 of the 149 terrorism suspects, and the case for closing the camp was compelling.

National action plan is called for

A British parliamentary committee has described the failure to tackle female genital mutilation in the UK as a 'national scandal' and is calling for a national action plan.

The politicians want vulnerable girls to be protected by court orders and medical professionals to conduct regular physical examinations of those considered at risk of what they describe as an extreme form of child abuse.

Although FGM was outlawed in Britain in 1985, only one prosecution has taken place and it is estimated that 65,000 girls across the country could be in danger of mutilation.

PKS Politician Misbakhun Supports Jokowi

Misbakhun, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician, paid a visit to the residence of Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo or Jokowi on Wednesday, September 5. In addition to expressing hospitality, Misbakhun, who has been implicated in the Bank Century scandal, openly stated his support for the host, Joko Widodo, in the coming Jakarta gubernatorial race.

Misbakhun said that many PKS members supported Jokowi as Jakarta governor. However, not many members are open about their support because the PKS officially supports candidates Fauzi Bowo and Nachrowi Ramli.

“I support Jokowi because during his time as Solo mayor he managed to implement programs that are well accepted by the community and therefore, he gained public sympathy,” said Misbakhun on Wednesday, September 5. “Therefore, if Jokowi is elected [as Jakarta governor], I would like to leave my people in his hands; Jokowi will be leading a large number of people of various religions.”

Nazaruddin Promises Wife Neneng will Surrender to KPK

Graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin has promised the Antigraft Commission (KPK) in writing that his wife Neneng Sri Wahyuni, a graft suspect in a separate case, will return to Indonesia provided she would not be detained.

“We are still sorting it out with the KPK,” said Junimart Girsang, a lawyer for both Neneng and Nazaruddin, when contacted on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. He said the letter was a sign indicating his client's willingness to cooperate. “To make it clear, what they want is Neneng's statement. Law should not be enforced by breaking the law.”

KPK confirmed receipt of Nazaruddin's letter requesting to keep Neneng under house arrest only upon her return to Indonesia. "The management is reviewing the letter,” said KPK spokesperson Johan Budi S.P., at his office this evening. He said his institution had not reached a conclusion because all five leaders need to agree on it.

Neneng has been a fugitive since August 20, 2011, before she officially became a suspect in the power generator graft case involving Ministry of Labor and Transmigration. She and Nazaruddin are alleged to have pocketed Rp. 2.2 billion from that project alone. KPK said it has information that Neneng is in Malaysia, but has no authority to apprehend her.

Amnesty International Calls for National Police Evaluation

Amnesty International has requested the Indonesian government confirm that all murder reports are free from law enforcement interference and are not motivated by police attacks. The reports should also be investigated by an independent institution, which announces the finding to the public, Amnesty said.

“Amnesty International calls for an evaluation by the Indonesian government over the tactics used by the police in their arrest and maintenance of public order to ensure they comply with international standards,” said Amnesty International Indonesia campaigner Josef Benedict in a press release on Wednesday.

Josef said that Amnesty suspects the Indonesian police is guilty of abusing its power. Josef added that the Indonesian police have shot, beaten, and killed people without considering accountability. Over recent months, the police have attracted criticism for repeatedly shooting and attacking civilians involved in peaceful protests and land disputes.

Historic Ship To Transport Bontang Gas

PT Badak NGL Bontang of East Kalimantan will transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Jakarta using a 35 year old LNG tanker named Aquarius. “The same tank transported LNG to Osaka, Japan in 1977,” said President Director of PT Badak NGL Sutopo on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

He said that Aquarius was used for the first export of LNG in August 1, 1977. Now it will be used for domestic shipping of LNG to Jakarta Bay. PT Badak NGL began shipping abroad with 2 trains of LNG around the end of 70s. In the early 90s till now, Sutopo said, Pertamina's subsidiary company has an annual capacity of 22,5 million ton. “We have achieved 8,085 shipments as of April 21, 2012,” Sutopo said. All of these shipments were destined to buyer countries.

This time LNG will be sent to Jakarta Bay for a floating terminal project a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU). LNG Bontang has supplied 11.75 million metric tons LNG to West Java FSRU in the past 11 years. The new FSRU will be operated by PT Nusantara Regas.

The FSRU project in Jakarta Bay is to support government program to diversify energy to manage future energy challenges. With FSRU, Nusantara Regas can also explore other business potentials to make optimal use of the facility.

Minister Hatta: Subsidized Fuel Restriction Cannot Take Effect in May

Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa stressed that subsidized fuel restrictions cannot be enforced this May. “The issue has only been unravelled and discussed recently and is still being deliberated upon intensely. Later the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister (Jero Wacik) shall unveil the technical details and our President will listen. Afterwards, the implementation will need steps. So, it is not possible to enforce the policy as per 1 May," Hatta said at the Presidential office on Tuesday, 24 April 2012.

The subsidized fuel restriction, Hatta said, will be applied not only to private cars but also cars belonging to the state and state-owned companies' vehicles, and one of the possible measures was to use stickers. “We listen to all input given to us,” Hatta said.

The policy implementation will depend on the polling results to avoid the over quota use of subsidized fuel, earmarked at 40 million kiloliter for this year.

Hatta said there are targets the government plans to meet, in order to ensure preparedness toward enforcing the restrictions - for example, familiarization and the public's understanding of the policy and infrastructure. “A good idea has to be implementable. We want to walk the talk, not just talk.” he said.

"The meeting will formulate the implementation of APBNP (Revised State Budget) 2012, which still uses the assumption of RP. 1,500 price increase for subsidized fuel. We will not enforce price increase till end of June if the increase is not justified by Paragraph 6a of Article 7," Hatta detailed.

Without the price increase, the government has to implement a variety of strategies to maintain the growth at 6.5 percent and a healthy fiscal climate. "Without the increase, subsidies will swell and without control it will reach Rp. 340 trillion,” he added.

Workers to Go on Strike Again on May 1

Thousands of workers from various alliances in Tangerang declared their protests against cheap labor on May 1. The issue of cheap labour will be one of the major demands to improve welfare of the workers. “We deplore cheap labor practices,” announced Chairman of Karya Utama Workers Union Federation Koswara on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

Koswara said their demands will be announced during the planned peace rally together with other labour organizations in Tangerang and Jakarta. They also reject labour outsourcing and press the government to protect its national assets and declare the Labor Day as a national holiday. "The government has to declare May Day as a national day because that is the victorious day of workers, and to show that Indonesia is moving forward from agrarian to industrialization," Koswara said. May 1 which falls on Tuesday is a normal working day in Indonesia.

Koswara also pledged that workers will maintain discipline during the May Day protest as the planned action has already been coordinated with police.

Around 5,000 workers from Tangerang will take to streets on the day. According to Chairman of Indonesian Metal Workers Union Federation of the Tangerang City and Regency, Riden Hatam Azis, the said number came from 80 work units based in Tangerang City and Regency, their point of meeting is established around Bitung toll road.

Indonesia Police Watch: Inafis a Waste

Indonesia Police Watch (IPC) head Neta S. Pane, says the implementation of the Inafis card project must be stopped for four reasons.

The first reason, according to Neta, is because Inafis, the finger print ID card, has no additional benefit than regular ID cards such as drivers’ licenses, passports and the planned e-ID card.

Neta also said the project, which has cost the state Rp43.2 billion, has not been transparent. The National Police, said Neta, never announced the winner of the project tender. In addition, Neta said the Inafis card system ‘criminalizes’ citizens because criminal records will be stored on the Inafis card.

Neta said that no more than 2 percent of 250 million Indonesian citizens have been involved in criminal acts. Furthermore, Neta also questioned the Inafis card system, which refers to the United States police system.

16 police stations damaged in fuel price protests nationwide

The Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) reported on Sunday that the recent five-day series of massive rallies to protest against the government's plan to increase fuel prices had resulted in damage to at least 16 police stations nationwide.

In its press release, IPW said four damaged police stations were located in Jakarta, while the remaining 12 were located in several other big cities, like Makassar, Medan, Yogyakarta, Samarinda and Kendari.

The rallies, held from March 27 to March 31 by students, activists and supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the country's largest opposition party, also damaged four patrol cars and one police motorcycle.

The House of Representatives decided early on Saturday to allow the government to raise subsidized fuel prices only if the Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) was 15 percent higher than assumed in the state budget within six months, meaning that the government had to cancel its initial plan to increase subsidized fuel prices today.

PKS told to leave government over fuel price rebellion

Democratic Party executive and lawmaker Umar Arsal said on Sunday the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) should withdraw its ministers from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet after refusing to support the government's recent plan to increase fuel prices.

Umar said the other parties within the government coalition had also been disturbed by the PKS' unexpected political move in the recent fuel price controversy.

“I can understand if the Democratic Party and other

parties in our coalition ask the PKS to take their ministers out of the Cabinet,” Umar said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The PKS initially had four ministers in Yudhoyono's Cabinet before the President appointed former environment

minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta as Research and Technology Minister replacing Suharna Surapranata, a senior PKS member, in a major Cabinet reshuffle last year.

In a dramatic vote, the House finally agreed to revise the 2012 state budget in the early hours of Saturday. The decision automatically aborted the government’s plan to raise the fuel price by 33 percent from its current price on April 1 but allowed it to increase the price if the Indonesian Crude Price is 15 percent higher than assumed in the state budget within six months.

The PKS had earlier said it would oppose the plan despite being part of the ruling coalition. The party’s lawmakers maintained their opposition during voting to determine the fuel price increase.

Indonesia sets the price of subsidized fuel at Rp 4.500 (49 US cents) per liter, making the country’s fuel price the cheapest among Southeast Asia countries.

House slams budget revision plan

The House budget committee’s meeting with the government over the revision of the state budget reached a stalemate on Thursday, with lawmakers claiming that government “mismanagement” caused an overhaul of macroeconomic assumptions.

“It has been merely three months since we approved [the 2012 state budget] and we have to make significant and thorough changes already,” Tamsil Linrung, the deputy chairman of the House budget committee from Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said during the hearing, which was attended by representatives from the Finance Ministry, Bank Indonesia, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

“If the changes are based on external factors, then we could understand. But the problem here is the changes look to be caused not by external factors only, but also internal problems, such as the government’s mismanagement,” Tamsil said, citing that state-owned electricity company PT PLN saw electricity subsidies double to Rp 89.55 trillion, from Rp 40.45 trillion in the previous budget.

The government is proposing several alterations in macroeconomic indicators for the state budget. It proposes to lower the yearly economic-growth forecast from 6.7 percent to 6.5 percent, increase the annual inflation target from 5.3 percent to 7 percent and change the official exchange rate to Rp 9,000, from Rp 8,800, against the US dollar.

The proposed revisions will see the price of Indonesian crude oil change to US$105 per barrel, from $90 per barrel, and an oil production target of 930,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 950,000 bpd.

The substantial rise of global oil prices and the economic slowdown in United States and Europe are among the reasons behind the revision, Finance Ministry acting chief of fiscal policy Bambang Brodjonegoro told lawmakers during the hearing.

Bambang, however, acknowledged government mismanagement had been the major factor behind the overhaul in the state budget’s macroeconomic assumptions.

“We certainly have an internal problem on why the electricity subsidy could soar and our oil production could not achieve the estimated targets,” Bambang said, adding that the government, through the state-owned enterprises minister, would conduct internal evaluations on the matter.

The revision of macroeconomic assumptions in the state budget was imperative to keep the country’s budget deficit below the permissible level of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Bambang told lawmakers at the end of the hearing, which was adjourned until Friday.

Police Probe into Phone Credit Theft “[The losses reach] trillions of rupiah. And it's only from one operator.”

Chief of Police Criminal Investigation, Ins. Gen. Sutarman, said almost all cellular operators committed phone credit theft.

“[The losses reach] trillions of rupiah. And it's only from one operator,” said Sutarman today, March 22.

Police have so far named three suspects from Telkomsel and two suspects from content providers, namely PT Mediaplay and PT Collibri Network.

“The reports came from Telkomsel customers. We're able to find evidence which may lead this to a criminal case,” he explained.

Currently, Sutarman said his team is probing into the possibility of violation that XL and Indosat may have committed.

Sutarman said one form of violations pulled off by the operator and content providers is by complicating the unreg facility of a product while the registration is made easy.

“There is an element of intention,” he explained.

Indonesia KPK Summons Two House Members

The national Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has scheduled questioning over two officials of the House of Representatives (DPR)’s Budget Committee named Olly Dondokambey and Tamsil Linrung, today.

Both Deputies of Budget Committee will undergo interrogation as witnesses of the Regional Infrastructure Development Acceleration (PPID) bribery case against suspect Wa Ode Nurhayati, who was a former member of the Budget Committee.

“They’re scheduled for examination against the suspect, WON,” said Chief of KPK’s Reporting & Information, Priharsa Nugraha, in Jakarta. WON is the initials of a politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Wa Ode Nurhayati.

As for Tamsil and Olly, it is not their first summons. They had been summoned by KPK for quizzes in another case. Meanwhile, in relation with the PPID bribery case which involves two employees of the Minister of Manpower & Transmigration, Muhaimin Iskandar, Olly and Tamsil had been examined twice earlier.

KPK has named Wa Ode as a suspect in the PPID budget bribery case in Aceh. Wa Ode allegedly received a bribe as regards the allocation of PPID project budget of Rp40 billion for three regencies in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

The three regencies were Aceh Besar, Pidi Jaya, and Bener Meriah. Wa Ode is being charged to have violated article 12 letter a and b and or article 5 section 2 and or article 11 of the Corruption Eradication Law.

Mitch Daniels: Indiana Tornadoes As Serious As I've Seen As Governor

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels on Saturday morning toured the devastation unleashed by a swarm of tornadoes that killed 14 people in his state.

He spoke to CNN after viewing the wreckage in the town of Henryville.

"We're not unfamiliar with Mother Nature's wrath out here in Indiana," Daniels said. "This is about as serious as we've seen in the years that I've been in this job."

Newt To TPM: Never Mind Rush's Apology, How About Barack Obama's To Afghanistan?

TPM caught up with Newt Gingrich after a speech at Bowling Green University in Ohio and asked about Rush Limbaugh's apology to Sandra Fluke.

"I'm not paying attention," he responded.

Asked whether he thought he felt Limbaugh misspoke, Gingrich turned the question on President Obama.

"I'm not paying attention," he repeated."I'm paying attention to the president apologizing to people who killed Americans."

The line was a reference to Obama's apology to Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan for the burning of Korans by US troops, which he said was necessary to calm deadly violence against American troops that erupted over the incident.

Romney Camp Says Santorum’s Ohio ‘Delegate Debacle’ Shows Major Problems

Mitt Romney may be running into trouble putting away Rick Santorum, but at least he’s running a fully functional campaign. That’s the argument his surrogates in Ohio made on Saturday at least, pointing to Santorum’s basic difficulties getting his delegates on the ballot as proof he’d wilt against President Obama’s elite re-election team.

According to Romney’s national counsel, Ben Ginsberg, Santorum’s ability to field a full delegate slate in competitive states ia “a true test, especially for Republican primary voters to look at, whether a candidate is ready for primetime.”

“What’s evident from what’s going to happen on Super Tuesday and beyond is that Rick Santourm flunks that test,” Ginsberg said in a conference call with reporters.

While several polls have shown Santorum leading Romney in Ohio, he failed to submit the necessary paperwork in three congressional districts needed to compete for their delegates, putting him at a serious disadvantage to Romney from the start. He also, like Newt Gingrich, failed to qualify for the ballot in Virginia entirely. All told, the Romney campaign estimates 16% of all Super Tuesday delegates are already out of play for Santorum. There may be some legal recourse for Santorum if he wants to try to claim those missing Ohio delegates later, but it will be complex and difficult.

“In the Fall, we know whoever the Republican nominee is will be going against one of the best, well-oiled political machines,” Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann, a Romney supporter in Ohio, told reporters. “This kind of ball drop at this stage of the campaign shows he’s not ready for primetime.”

Update: A spokesman for Santorum, Hogan Gidley, responded to TPM that the Romney campaign’s attack on their professionalism reflected an elitist effort to undermine their more grassroots campaign:

“The Romney campaign is just throwing another temper tantrum because they’re a little confused and frustrated as to why they can’t buy this election. I’m sure they thought that with all their Establishment friends and all the Establishment money and with the handpicked Establishment candidate, this campaign would really be a coronation for Mitt Romney. But they’ve just never understood that this election is not about who has the most money - or who has the most infrastructure. It’s about electing a President who inspires and believes in the American people instead of the government control. And on the biggest issues in this election, Mitt Romney sided with Barack Obama, and we just learned today, he actually encouraged Barack Obama to use Romney’s Massachusetts model for the government take over of healthcare. When a grassroots conservative Tea Party candidate like Rick Santorum threatens the Establishment with true conservatism and actual reform minded policies the Establishment resorts to namecalling and tearing down others.”

Romney Takes Washington Ahead Of Super Tuesday

Mitt Romney picked up another win Saturday night in Washington state, taking 36 percent of the vote with 77 percent of precincts reporting. The win gives Romney some much-needed momentum heading into a critical Super Tuesday contest.

The victory capped a week in which the former Massachusetts governor also won Arizona and a close contest in Michigan. It also provided the Romney camp a jolt of positive news after the candidate slipped up in an interview with a local Ohio reporter and was forced to spend multiple days clarifying his position on a controversial measure to limit birth control coverage.

“I’m heartened to have won the Washington caucuses, and I thank the voters for their support,” Romney said in a written statement shortly after the win. “Every day that passes with Barack Obama in the White House is a day in which America’s recovery from the economic crisis is delayed.”

At stake in Washington are 43 delegates, but the caucuses had no affect on their selection. That will be determined by other GOP events in the coming weeks.

Still, he results were a disappointment for Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who had staked his hopes on winning Washington and ended up competing for second place with about 25 percent, narrowly edging former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Paul has not won any states to date.

Paul was the only candidate to appear in Washington on Saturday, while the others focused their campaigns on Tuesday’s big event. He aggressively organized and recruited supporters in the lead up to the caucuses, hoping a win in Washington could propel him to the front of the pack nipping at Romney’s heels.

Saturday’s voting proved to be a big event for the Washington GOP. With some counting still to go, the party had already tallied the votes of more than 40,000 caucus goers. That put turnout far ahead of 2008 Republican caucuses, which saw about 12,000 people participate.

The boost appeared to cause problems in at least one part of the state, where it was reported that some 1,500 people were turned away from the caucuses on Saturday morning.

US embargo on Indonesia's CPO is discriminative

Trade Ministry viewed an embargo on crude palm oil procurement from Indonesia applied by US is inaccurate and discriminative.

Director General of International Trade at Trade Ministry Deddy Saleh said the embargo can be categorized as a discriminative measure because cooking oil made from soybean, sunflower oil, and corn oil are considered to contain greater carbon emission.

“Palm has less environmental impact than soybean. Then, land productivity of palm oil could be 4 tons per hectare, while that of soybean is only at 0.4 tons per hectare,” he revealed in a working visit to Mamuju, West Sulawesi, yesterday.

He affirmed US just considered a number of debatable assumptions, as estimation for undeveloped land of palm oil plantation in 2020 based on scientific calculation.

In addition, US also assessed imported crude palm oil from Indonesia used as raw material of biofuel isn’t environmentally friendly.

Even, US Government had issued notification of Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) on renewable fuel standards stating that bio-fuel of Indonesia does not yet qualify the renewable standards.

EPA regulates that the reduction limit of greenhouse-gas effect for biodiesel and renewable diesel made from crude palm oil is 20% at minimum.

In the meantime, the analysis result of EPA showed the palm oil export from Indonesia to US is still below the standard at 17% for biodiesel and 11% for renewable diesel.

Therefore, Director General for Processing and Marketing of Agricultural Crop at Agriculture Ministry Zaenal Bachrudin said stakeholders of crude palm oil sector in Indonesia and representative officers of Malaysia will hold a final meeting on the notification of EPA.

Planting areal

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan informed Indonesia has the world’s largest tropic-forest area up to 130.8 million hectares, so it could determine the geopolitical position at global level.

The forest area has three functions, namely for conservation forest covering 26.8 million hectare area, protection forest covering 28.86 million ha, and production forest covering 57 million ha.

The forestry development beyond forestry sector such as for palm plantation has also been regulated in Law No.14/1999 on Forestry.