Ba'asyir suit against police rejected

Ba'asyir suit against police rejected

JAKARTA: The South Jakarta District Court rejected on Thursday
a lawsuit filed by cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir against National
Police over his alleged illegal arrest.

Ba'asyir filed the lawsuit against police after authorities
removed him from a hospital in Surakarta, East Java, in October
2002.

Presiding Judge Asnahwati told the court on Thursday that the
court had no jurisdiction to rule on a civil case.

"It is supposedly a criminal lawsuit," she said.

Ba'asyir's lawyers had said that there was no clear legal
basis to arrest the leader of Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional
terrorist network believed to be behind the deadly Bali bombing,
after police investigators changed the charge from attempting to
topple the government to attempting to kill the president.

Ba'asyir is currently being tried for document forgery and
subversion at the Central Jakarta District Court. -- JP

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New marine battalion inducted
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New marine battalion inducted

JAKARTA: The Navy inaugurated the establishment of a new
marine infantry battalion during a ceremony at the Cilandak
Marine Headquarters in Jakarta on Thursday.

Navy chief of staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh said the
formation of the new marine infantry battalion, the seventh of
its kind, was part of the Navy's plan to strengthen itself.

"This is the answer for any party counting on disturbing the
unitary Republic of Indonesia. Marines are ready to guard all
seas here," he told reporters after the ceremony.

The new battalion would be located in Teluk Rantai, Lampung.
Lt. Col. Bambang Suswantono has been appointed as commander of
the battalion of 711 marines. -- JP

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People unaware of new Constitution
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People unaware of new Constitution

JAKARTA: A series of visits by members of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) to provinces revealed that local
residents did not clearly understand amendments to the 1945
Constitution.

At least five teams were sent to ten cities throughout the
country between May 5 and May 9 to disseminate the results of the
amendment to the Constitution and to get input on plans to form a
constitutional commission.

The five teams were sent to Surabaya and Jember in East Java,
Yogyakarta, Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara, Bandung in West Java,
Ambon in Maluku, Palembang in South Sumatra, Padang in West
Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi, and Jayapura in Papua.

Sutjipno Tjokrosurojo, who visited Yogyakarta and Mataram,
said Thursday that some people asked him why the Broad Guideline
of State Policies (GBHN) was scrapped.

People did not understand that the adoption of a direct
presidential election had made the GBHN outlined by the House
useless.

Other legislators said that people in the regional
administrations were unable to differentiate the amended
Constitution from the original one. -- JP

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Candidates for KPI unknowns
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Candidates for KPI unknowns

JAKARTA: Legislators are having difficulty finding out
background information on most of the 32 candidates selected for
the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) because they are
unknowns.

House of Representatives media subcommission chairman Djoko
Susilo said on Thursday that a lack of competency among
candidates would affect the KPI's future.

Apart from the unfamiliar background of the candidates, there
was also speculation the government had inserted one additional
candidate to take a post in the nine-member KPI.

In the previous announcement there were only 31 candidates
vying for the KPI, but the number later increased to 32.

Sources said the additional candidate was Anton Adam Nangoy, a
top executive at privately run ANTV.

The Golkar party's Agung Laksono, who owns ANTV, is a close
friend of State Minister of Communications and Information
Syamsul Mu'arif.

The House is expected to examine the candidates next month. -
JP