This caption for Photo A (left) and B (right)
This caption for Photo A (left) and B (right)
Credit A - JP/I Wayan Juniartha Credit B - JP/Arief Suhardiman
PASTIKA AND BA'ASYIR: Head of the Bali bombing joint investigative team Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika (left) smiles, confident that the police will be able to uproot the terrorist network responsible for the deaths of more than 190 people, mostly foreigners, in Kuta, Bali, on Oct. 12. Noted cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (right), leader of a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Ngruki, Surakarta, Central Java, made national headlines this year following his arrest and interrogation for his alleged involvement in several crimes, including a plot to assassin Megawati Soekarnoputri when she was Vice President. The cleric is thought to be a link in the chain of terror-related activities that have plagued the country these past few years.
Photo C Caption
M.A. RACHMAN: Attorney General M.A. Rachman retains his judiciary seat despite his alleged corruption, which has evoked strong criticism. President Megawati Soekarnoputri has rejected calls for his dismissal, defending her stance in saying that there is no guarantee that Rachman's replacement would be "clean".
Photo D Caption
JP/Mulkan Salmona YUSUF SYAKIR: Former chairman of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) is known for his tenacity in auditing the wealth of high-ranking government officials. To his surprise and disappointment, the Commission was disbanded last month. It has been reported that a new anticorruption body is to be established in lieu.
PHOTO E Caption
JP/R. Berto Wedhatama SUTIYOSO: The retired Army Major General is dubbed to be one of the current "strong men" in the country. President Megawati Soekarnoputri had him reelected as Jakarta governor this year, despite his black record during the 1996 attack on Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters. Sutiyoso is also notorious for his failure to manage Jakarta, especially in regards the widespread flooding which inundated the capital at the beginning of 2002. PHOTO F Caption
JP/R. Berto Wedhatama AKBAR TANDJUNG: Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Akbar Tandjung, who is concurrently chairman of the Golkar Party, was convicted on charges of misappropriating state funds from the State Logistic Agency (Bulog) and sentenced to two years in prison. However, efforts to uphold the court's verdict have been in vain, and this "strong man" remains at large, retaining his seat in both parliament and the party.
PHOTO G Caption
Private collection
INDIRA DAMAYANTI SUGONDO: Despite tight competition among party members to make the roster of the House of Representatives (DPR), Indira made a bold point in quitting Commission IX of the House as an open protest against the rampant bribery among legislators, including those of her own party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).
PHOTO H Caption
JUSUF KALLA: The former minister of trade is renowned as a stalwart promoter of national peace, and remains so in his current capacity as Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare. Having initiated the end of the conflict in Poso, Central Sulawesi, through the Malino I peace deal in December 2001, minister Kalla followed up this year with the Malino II, initiating peace in Maluku.