Police to charge four for digging up gardens<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
Four of seven people apprehended while digging up the Bogor
\nBotanical Gardens last Friday are to be charged with damaging a
\nconservation site, an officer said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Bogor Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Yayan Sopian said
\nthe four would be charged with violating Article 27 of Law No.
\n5\/1992 on nature preserves.<\/p>\n
"The excavation was illegal ... should the four be found
\nguilty of violating the law, they may face a minimum sentence of
\nfive years in prison," he said.<\/p>\n
The four suspects have been identified as Rahmawati, Martono,
\nAgus and Darsono.<\/p>\n
Their three accomplices -- Bambang, Warsini and Apriandi --
\nwere released late on Friday.<\/p>\n
According to the police, the investigators questioned several
\nwitnesses, among them Botanical Gardens general affairs manager
\nDachrijani Mardi and the security guards on duty at the time in
\nquestion.<\/p>\n
The seven were apprehended while on a mystically inspired
\nmission to find treasure buried inside the gardens.<\/p>\n
Rahmawati claimed she had received a wangsit (divine
\ninspiration) from a Dutch woman in a dream last Tuesday in which
\nshe was told to make a devotional visit to the graves of Dutch
\npeople supposedly buried in the gardens. The next day, Rahmawati
\nand husband Bambang went to the site and found a brown pouch
\ncontaining two stones and a note in Dutch that claimed there was
\ntreasure buried in the gardens.<\/p>\n
Rahmawati dreamed again that night that the Dutch woman told
\nher to look for the grave of Queen Siluman (a mythical figure who
\ntakes the appearance of an animal for mischievous purposes) in
\nthe gardens, where there were blocks of gold and platinum
\nunderneath, the value of which were enough to pay off the state's
\ndebts.<\/p>\n
The existence of Queen Siluman's grave has not been confirmed.<\/p>\n
Separately, the coordinator of the Indonesian Lovers of Nature
\nand Culture Community (AMPCBI), Gartono, said the law was only
\nimposed on the poor.<\/p>\n
"How could Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al Munawar
\nbe freed from any consequences even though he once blatantly
\ndamaged a conservation area?" he remarked.<\/p>\n
He was referring to an excavation in 2002 at Batu Tulis,
\nBogor, a site near a stone inscription dating back to the 16th
\ncentury Pajajaran Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Said Agil claimed that he was told by a "wise man" that there
\nwas treasure buried there and, if discovered, could repay the
\ncountry's debts.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-to-charge-four-for-digging-up-gardens-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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