Where is Nazaruddin?

Officials of President SBY's ruling Democrat Party have been saying that their ex General Treasurer M. Nazaruddin stayed in Singapore for medical treatment since he left Jakarta on 22 May 2011, the same day that he was removed from his position at the party and hours before a travel ban on him was issued.

Because of this reason, Nazaruddin cannot come when the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) wants to question on the allegations about his involvement in the Corruption case at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

But according to Monsters and Critics  Singapore's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Nazaruddin had left 'several weeks ago.' And the Indonesian authorities have been informed of his destination at time of departure and Singapore had no information on his current whereabouts.

'Since Mr Nazaruddin had not been charged with any crime or even named as a suspect at the time he was in Singapore and had a valid Indonesian passport, there was no reason to stop him from entering or leaving the country,' the statement said.

This means that Nazaruddin left Singapore long before he was named a suspect by the KPK on June 30, 2011

Meanwhile, The Jakarta Post reported that President SBY's spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that the authorities had indeed been informed about Nazaruddin’s departure from Singapore.

He added that President SBY had only found out that Nazaruddin was no longer in Singapore after the Singaporean authorities’ announcement on Tuesday.

Julian insinuated that Nazaruddin was presently in another ASEAN country, but he refused to mention the name of any country, saying that the information was being withheld for intelligence purposes.

Leaked intelligence obtained by the Post showed that Nazaruddin had left Singapore for Malaysia and Vietnam.

All I can say right now is : Oh My God!

iPad, Corruption, Singapore

The producer of iPad is now very lucky because the mass media in Indonesia has been reporting intensively about the tablet computer in the last few days, therefore giving it a free advertisement.

It all started in 2010 when iPad started to enter the Indonesian market from other countries, especially Singapore, through unofficial channels and sold in in the black market.

In spite of the lack of import and sales permits, iPad became popular very quickly and many people want to buy it although illegally. This has attracted the Police to carry out investigation on the people who sold them.

A Police officer disguised as a buyer contacted two vendors, namely Dian Yudha Negara (42) and Randy Lester Samu (29) who advertised the sales of iPad 3G WiFi 64 GB on the local online social media Kaskus and bought two iPads on 23 November 2010.

The iPads were not equipped with certification and manual written in the Indonesian language, so  the Police arrested them and charged them with violating Law No. 8 Regarding the Protection of Consumers, Law No. 36 Regarding Telecommunication, and Regulation of the Minister of Trade regarding electronic products that can be imported. Both of them could face a maximum prison sentence of up to five years.

Dian and Randy then told the Police that they bought the iPads while they were traveling to Singapore, but they cannot show evidence to support this, such as passport and airline ticket.

Now they both are facing trial at the District Court of Central Jakarta. Luckily during the trial today the judges released both of them from detention.

Dian and Randy may have violated the Laws and therefore they may be eligible to face the Court trial they are facing now.

What really surprised me was the very quick action of the law enforcement agencies against both of them, which was very different from the very slow actions against people who have been suspected of Corruption/ Bribery such as Nazaruddin and Nunun Nurbaety which enabled them to runaway to Singapore.

Indonesia & Singapore Extradition Treaty

I thought that Singapore would never want to sign an extradition treaty with Indonesia because it has enjoyed receiving lots of money brought by bad guys who ran away from Indonesia.

That's why I was very surprised when The Jakarta Globe reported that Indonesia and Singapore have already signed an Extradition Treaty and a Defense Cooperation Agreement on 27 April 2007 in Bali, witnessed by President SBY and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

A diplomat at the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta was quoted as saying that his country remains fully committed to the treaty and agreement and look forward to their ratifications by Indonesia.

The Indonesian House of Representatives refused to ratify the extradition treaty and defense agreement because of a clause that would allow Singapore to conduct military exercises in the island of Sumatra. 

Considering the above, I could understand the House of Representatives' refusal to ratify the Extradition Treaty. One thing that I could not understand is why our government agreed to give Singapore military training facility on our country's soil without any consultation with the House of Representatives ?

Singapore is a Safe Place to Hide

On 23 May, the Democrat Party dismissed M. Nazaruddin as it's General Treasurer for his alleged role in a Bribery case surrounding a South East Asian Games construction project and an attempt to bribe the Secretary General of of the Constitutional Court Janedri Gaffar with Sing $ 120,000.00.

On 24 May, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) asked the Immigration Office to forbid Nazaruddin from traveling outside Indonesia so as to facilitate investigation on the allegations against him.
Unfortunately, Nazarrudin has departed for Singapore the night before immediately after he was dismissed by his party.

KPK also targeted Nunun Nurbaeti. wife of former Vice Chief of the National Police now a member of the House of Representatives of the Welfare Justice Party (PKS) Adang Darajatun, who has recently been named a Suspect in the Bribery of members of the House of Representatives during the election of Miranda Gultom as the Deputy Chairperson of the Bank Indonesia.

Until now Nunun cannot be questioned because she was reported to be suffering Amnesia, can't remember what happened to her in the past, and before she was named a Suspect Nunun went to Singapore for medical treatment.

Before that, there were other people wanted by the National Police who ran away to Singapore. One of them was ex Tax man Gayus Tambunan who was investigated by the Police for allegations of corruption. Luckily the National Police was able to persuade Gayus to return to Jakarta.

Beside that, there was also Anggodo Wijaya who was found guilty of corruption by the Court in Jakarta, but cannot be jailed because he ran away to Singapore before the authorities arrested him.

The fact that Indonesian and Singapore do not have extradition treaty has made it impossible for Indonesian law enforcement agencies to ask Singapore to turn anyone who broke the laws in Indonesia if they go and hide in Singapore.

However, I hope that  Indonesia and Singapore would soon sign an extradition treaty, especially that both are members of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) which in 2015 will become the ASEAN Community.

13 more Indonesians held by Somali Pirates

Last Sunday, 20 Indonesians and 11 foreign crews of Indonesian flag ship MV Sinar Kudus were released by Somali pirates who held them as hostages since 16 March 2011.

Kompas reported that the release was made after PT. Samudera Indonesia as owner of the ship paid a ransom demanded by those pirates, which according  to the pirates amounts to US$ 4.5 Million.

Actually, the government had decided to combine two options in efforts to free the ship crews i.e. negotiations and military operations. For which purpose three ships, one aircraft, one helicopter and special commando unit have been sent to the Somali sea to carry out the mission.

Last Saturday, 13 Indonesians together with 12 other ship crews of a Singapore flag ship MT Gemini were hijacked by Somali pirates at the Somali sea.

In reaction to this new piracy, the Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces Admiral Agus Suhartono said that Indonesia will coordinate with Singapore to secure the release of 13 Indonesian sailors.

Considering that 13 of the 25 crews of the Singapore ship are Indonesians, it would be very interesting to know whether or not this time our government (and Singapore) would choose to give in to the pirates' demand, or take military action instead.

The Burning of Forest in Sumatra

Smokes originating from the burning of forest in the Island of Sumatra in the last few days has been causing heavy air pollution in Singapore and Malaysia.

Due to this fact, the governments of Singapore and Malaysia have complained and urged the Indonesian government to take immediate action to stop the fire, for which purpose they both offered their assistance.
These offers were welcomed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marti Natalegawa who said that the smoke problem is a transnational problem that cannot be solved by Indonesia alone, but required cooperation among countries in the region.

According to Indonesian Minister of Environment Gusti Hatta, most of the fires were set by farmers practicing slash and burn agriculture in Riau Province, Sumatra. He also said that  The minister's deputy told reporters that his office is sending a team to Riau to find our more details as to the cause of fire.

Considering that the smoke has caused heavy air pollution in other countries, they must have originated from heavy burning of forests by so many people that can either be farmers or workers or plantation companies. 
The question is : why did the Forestry Ministry blamed only traditional farmers and not the plantations ?

For details, please read the following articles :
-  Govt says haze from RI, blames traditional farmers (The Jakarta Post)
-  Sumatra Smoke Clouds Sky Over Malaysia, Singapore (The Jakarta Globe)
-  Return of the Haze "We can't fight alone" (Strait Times)

Photo :  Courtesy of Reuter.

Punishment by Caning in Singapore

The news media all around the world has reported cynically when lawmakers in the Province of Aceh issued a by-law which carries a sentence of Caning.

I wonder whether those news media would report similarly about a Swiss Citizen who has committed an offense punishable by Caning in Singapore. Please find below an article on this case that I quoted from The Jakarta Globe

Swiss software consultant Oliver Fricker tries to avoid the media as he walks to the Subordinate court in Singapore on June 24, 2010. Fricker pleaded guilty to spray-painting a Singapore metro train with graffiti, an offence punishable by caning. (Photo AFP)

 

Swiss Man Admits Vandalism, Faces Caning in Singapore

Singapore. A Swiss expatriate pleaded guilty on Friday to vandalism and trespass after he was arrested for spray-painting a Singapore metro train, a crime which carries a sentence of caning and jail.

Oliver Fricker, 32, is to be sentenced later for the two crimes, which alarmed Singapore officials because he was able to break into a subway system that is believed to be a potential terrorist target.

Fricker, a business consultant, is out on a bail of 100,000 Singapore dollars (71,000 US) although his passport has been impounded after prosecutors argued there is a risk he may abscond.

His employer, Zurich-based Comit AG, which specialises in software for the financial industry, confirmed he had been suspended from work pending the outcome of the trial.

Fricker was about to return to Switzerland from his Singapore posting when he was arrested for the May 17 incident. A Briton who has left Singapore is also being sought as an alleged accomplice in the incident with the help of the global law-enforcement group Interpol.

Vandalism is punishable by up to three years in jail or a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,440 US dollars), plus three to eight strokes of a wooden cane, a punishment dating from British colonial rule.

For trespassing into a protected area, Fricker faces two years in jail or a fine of 1,000 dollars, or both.

Singapore considers the intrusion a serious offense because its metro system is believed to be the target of Southeast Asian Islamic extremists, and the graffiti incident exposed security lapses.

Singapore’s vandalism laws became global news in 1994 when an American teenager, Michael Fay, was caned for damaging cars and public property despite appeals for clemency from the US government.


Agence-France Presse

Hunting Corruption Suspects in Singapore

Recent success in arresting corruption suspect Gayus Tambunan (30) from his hideout in Singapore has inspired the Police to hunt other suspects who are known to be hiding in the island city.

Kompas quoted the Chief of the Police Detectives Ito Sumarsono as saying that there are around 10 to 20 suspects hiding there, including six who were involved in the 6,7 Trillion Rupiah Bank Century bail out case.

I hope that if the Police succeed in bringing back those suspects, they will be brought to justice and would not escape again.

Indonesia Seeks Singapore Help to Hunt Graft Suspects

Senin, 5 April 2010 | 18:16 WIB

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesian police want to work more closely with Singapore to track down corruption suspects who have taken sanctuary in the city state, national police chief detective Ito Sumardi said Monday. Singapore came under the spotlight last week when a young tax official suspected of laundering millions of dollars was apprehended there and returned to Jakarta.

The ease with which Indonesian police were allowed to enter Singapore, track  down the official, Gayus Tambunan, 30, and convince him to return to Indonesia has focused attention on other alleged criminals hiding there. Sumardi said 10 to 20 Indonesian suspects were living in Singapore, which has a reputation as the cleanest country in Asia. 
 
“We need to bring them back to Indonesia... They’re economic criminals. They consider Singapore a safe place to stay,” he told AFP. “First, our target is to bring back six suspects linked to the Bank Century case. They’re all hiding in Singapore,” he said, referring to a scandal over a 700-million-dollar bank bailout.

“After that, we’ll try to find those involved in other cases. Based on police checks, we believe the number of suspects in Singapore is in the teens, including those involved in the Bank Century case.” In a recent update to lawmakers, Deputy Attorney General Darmono said most of 18 alleged graft suspects currently subject to extradition requests were hiding in Singapore.

Another 10 had fled abroad, mostly to Singapore, but were not subject to extradition requests, he added. Sumardi said the police and attorney general’s office might be tracking different suspects and he could not provide a definitive figure for the number of fugitives believed to be in Singapore.

Indonesian officials have complained for years about what they say is the freedom enjoyed by such fugitives in Singapore, where they have allegedly pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into banking and real estate sectors.

“We’ll be working with the Singapore authorities such as the police and immigration department, and we’ll use specific approaches to convince the suspects to return to Indonesia,” Sumardi said, without elaborating.

Indonesia and Singapore signed a long-delayed extradition treaty in 2007 but it has not come into force due to Singapore’s insistence on linking it to defense ties, Indonesian officials said.

David's Mysterious Death

On 2 March, David Hartanto Widjaya, an Indonesian studying at the Nanyang Technical University (NTU), Singapore, was found dead at NTU’s campus. According to the local Police report, David jumped from the fourth floor of the campus building after stabbing his Mentor Professor Chan Kap Luk.

However, David’s family and supporters do not believe this report; they always maintained that the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious. So they have filed a request with the Coroner Court in Singapore to determine the actual cause of death so that the case can be heard at the Criminal Court.

On 29 July the Coroner Court ruled that the cause David’s death is Suicide, and the family was very unsatisfied. But unfortunately, they cannot appeal the Court’s decision. So they criticized the Indonesian government for not doing enough to ensure a fair trial. Their lawyers, among others O.C Kaligis, accused the Foreign Affairs Department of failing to assist the family and said that they intend to take the case to the International Court of Justice(ICJ) or the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In this regards, Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda said that it would be impossible to bring the case of David’s death to ICJ and the ICC because both courts only handled cases such as Genocide or disputes between states. Moreover, Indonesia was not even a state party to the ICC because it had not ratified the Rome Statute.

For details on the above, please click here, here and here.

Considering the above, I felt very sad that David's death is still misterious. Although our government cannot intervere with the legal proceedings in Singapore, however they could at least make verbal statement that show support to the family in their quest to unconceal the mystery of David's death. This would at least make the family felt a bit stronger.

Photo: Courtesy of Facebook

David Hartanto's case

Three months have passed since the Singapore Police announced that David Hartanto Widjaja, Indonesian student at the Nanyang Technical University (NTU) committed a suicide after stabbing his professor Chan Kap Luk, however the case is still unclear.

The Jakarta Post reported that David’s family has challenged the above Police findings by submitting a request with the Singapore Coroner Court last April to examine the real cause of death. Only if the said court finds that it was not a suicide, then the case will be forwarded to the Criminal Court.
However, David’s family felt that they have not been treated fairly throughout the court proceedings. And on Wednesday 24 June the case entered the third session of trial at the court. David’s father, Hartono Wijaya, said the NTU had presented 22 witnesses, plus four more shall be presented soon, while David's family has only been given opportunities to present four witnesses, out of nine names they have submitted. The family is facing difficulty in finding witnesses other than David's relatives & friends. People at NTU were reluctanct to give information.
Beside that,the family's request that David’s laptop and digital hard disk be returned to the family was also denied.

According to O.C Kaligis, an Indonesian lawyer who advocated the family pro bono, the Coroner Court proceedings have only focused on how David tried to murder the professor, but they never analyze the cause of David’s death. Pictures that show his deep wounds were never exhibited.

Considering these unfortunate facts, the family plan to bring two forensic experts from Indonesia who had analyzed David’s body based on the Singaporean doctors’ forensic report and pictures of his body.

Photo:BigFoto

The truth about David's death

More than one month has passed since the news media in Singapore reported that an Indonesian student at the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) i.e. David Hartanto Widjaja, has committed a suicide after stabbing his Professor, on 2 March 2009.

According to VivaNews, until now David’s family still does not believe that David committed a suicide, and therefore questioning the real cause of his death due to the following reasons:
1)The Singapore Police did not state that the cause of David’s death suicide
2)The Singapore Police gave the forensic autopsy report through NTU, in stead of through the Indonesian Embassy there
3)The forensic autopsy report shows 36 stab wounds, including 14 sharp objects wounds on David's body
4)According to forensic expert i.e. Dr. Mu'nim, the Forensic Report was not legitimate because it was not legalized by our embassy in Singapore
5)David’s death was followed by the death of two NTU’s research staff working at the same department David studied;
6)David’s family was not allowed to meet the stabbed Professor, and the Dean of NTU;
7)The Singapore Police does not allow David’s family access to David’s lap top and mobile phone which could lead to the real cause of David’s death

In this regards, David's family have requested the government of President SBY to support them in their effort.

Further, in order to find out the truth, David’s family has hired a Criminal Lawyer in Singapore i.e. Sashi Nathan, to take legal action with the legal authority in Singapore. For which purpose a hearing shall be held at the Coroner Court there on Wednesday, 22 April 2009.

Considering the above, I hope that the Court Hearing would reveal the truth behind the death of David so that the mystery would solved soon.

Indonesia-Singapore Agreements

Since Indonesia's independence in 1945, most of the time relationship with Singapore has been very close, especially in the field of commerce, whereby we export and import many commodities through Singapore.

Due to this closeness, in 2007 both countries signed an Extradition Agreement and a Defence Cooperation Agreement. But due to the rejection by our National Parliament i.e the DPR, those agreements have not been ratified, therefore invalid till now.
The DPR has strong reasons to reject said agreement, because their members consider the Extradition Agreement does not make Singapore to extradite Indonesian citizens who were considered fugitives in our country.
In this regards, The Jakarta Post quoted our Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono as saying that there are now 80 such fugitives living in Singapore. They fled our country after the 1998 turmoil in Indonesia, bringing with them lots of money they have corrupted in Indonesia. He also said that Singapore does not want to sign the agreements because it feared that it has to return those money. Meanwhile, according to the First Secretary of the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta, the reason why Singapore refused to sign the agreements because Indonesia has demanded amendments to those agreements.

It is very sad to know that our foreign policy has been made prematurely, causing inconveniences for our country's image. Such inconvenience could have been avoided if prior to signing the agreements, our government discuss them first with the DPR.
Of course it would take longer time, but we would be able to save our country's image.

The Mistery behind David's death

10 days have passed since the news media reported that David Hartanto Widjaja (21), an Indonesian student at the Nanyang Technology University (NTU) Singapore, committed suicide after stabbing an Associate Professor.

But until now, the case is still a mystery because 5 days after the tragedy, a Chinese national working on an NTU project i.e. Zhou Zheng(24), was found hanged on the campus. This that the fact that he and David shared the same laboratory have led to speculations about possible connections between the two suicide cases.
Beside that, there has been growing doubts in the blogosphere on the reliability of the reports made by the Singapore based news media.
Sgpolitics.net wrote that Today, Channel News Asia, Asia One and the Strait Times have misrepresented critical information in their stories which led to distortion of the truth about David's death. Here is his elaboration:
Edwin i.e David's friend and some other Indonesian students on the night of the incident had spoken to David’s parents who told him that they had seen the body and found no wounds on David’s wrists. This means that media reports about the wrist wounds were untrue.
Edwin also quoted the parents as saying that there is a slash wound on the neck
David's brother, William, said that the Police told him that there is no wrist wound and also told him not to trust the news media.
NTU's official press release said that David had fallen off the building, but Channel News Asia reported that he jumped off the building!
OMY reported that David had attempted two suicides, but no concrete facts mentioned.
The Straits Times reported vividly about how the struggle took place based on
testimonies of friends of Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, including what
happened in the professor’s room, how David had stabbed him in the back, and the struggle that followed. But names of those witnesses were not mentioned.

According to Tempo, an alumni of NTU i.e. Margaretta, Indonesian, wrote in her blog that NTU students who are not Singapore citizens are forced to work extra hard to upheld NTU's image, e.g by creating patentable invention, etc.

Considering the above, The Jakarta Post reported that the Indonesian government, through its Foreign Department Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, has requested the Singapore authorities to speed up their investigation on David's death.

I hope that the Singapore authorities would pay serious attention on this matter and the Singapore news media would seriously review their reports on what actually happened to David Hartanto Widjaja, so that justice shall prevail.

David Hartanto Widjaja

On 2 March 2009, David Hartanto Widjaja (21), an Indonesian student at the Nanyang Technical University (NTU) in Singapore, has committed suicide after stabbing his Professior i.e Chan Kap Luk (45).

According to the Strait Times, David stabbed the Professor several times with a knife during a routine discussion to help students. Afterwards, he slits his own wrist with the knive and jumped down. The tragic incident took place one month after NTU revoked the ASEAN Scholarship David has received since 2005 which pays for his tuition fees at NTU and annual stipend of S$ 5,800.00. In this regards, Detik has quotted an official of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore as saying that the stabbing of the Professor was a mistake, because he has nothing to do with the issuance of the scholarship.
Meanwhile, words have been spreading in the blogosphere that David's family and close friend have doubt on the Singapore official announcement.
According to Singapore News Alternative, David's family felt awkwardness in the case that they suspect the Singapore government has something to hide. Further, David's close friend Edwin mentioned in his blog Mista Bird about some awkwardness in this case that made him and David's family suspected that the truth has been hidden.

It is understandable if David's family and his friend have their own version about the tragic incident. However, if they cannot present evidence that can prove that they are right, then the official version will remain valid.