Drug linked to money laundering

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) head Yunus Husein called on the police Tuesday to charge drug dealers under anti-money laundering laws.

"Money from drugs trafficking is categorized as money laundering and Indonesia is among the countries whose financial system is misused to accommodate such a crime," Yunus told a seminar on international cooperation in combating drug abuse.

Yunus said Law No. 15/2002 on anti-money laundering allowed law enforcers to ask alleged drugs traders to prove that their assets were not the results of drug trafficking.

The law also allows law enforcers to ask banks to disclose accounts belonging to alleged drug dealers.

He said utilizing the law would provide more advantages than Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic drugs.

Yunus said although several articles in the anti-money laundering law would be amended, some of the articles would remain in place to enable police to charge alleged drug dealers under the law. --JP

;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Scene-prosperity Hamzah blames the past for poverty JP/4/Hamzah

Hamzah blames the past for poverty

BOGOR, West Java: Vice President Hamzah Haz said the government found it difficult to improve people's welfare due to the poor development policies of the past.

"In the past, education, religion and national identity did not serve as the pillars of development," Hamzah said at Bogor palace on Tuesday.

He said it was a challenge to improve people's welfare and knowledge due to the exorbitantly high school fees.

The vice president noted that in terms of education, Indonesia ranked 112th in the world due to the increasing number of children who could afford higher education.

He said Indonesians had almost lost their identity because of the impact of globalization and the failure to practice religious teachings.

"Pornography and drug abuse are out of control. What can we expect from our younger generation?" Hamzah asked.

However, he said the door was still open to solve the national problem. --Antara

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Indonesian rhino facing extinction

BOGOR, West Java: The Indonesian black rhino was on the brink of extinction, with numbers throughout the country now below 300, Rhino Partnership Foundation (YMR) secretary Effendy A Sumardja warned Tuesday.

The forestry ministry's director general for forest and nature conservation, Koes Sapardjadi, estimated there were only 200 Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus Sumatrensis) and no more than 60 Javanese rhinos left alive.

He called on all people to help save the rhinos from vanishing.

Effendy attributed the decline to the rhino's dwindling natural habitat and rampant illegal poaching.

"The slow breeding of rhinos has also contributed to the drop in population," he said. -- Antara

;JP;AMD; ANPAa..r.. Scene-rally-arrest Three demonstrators arrested JP/4/demonstator

Three demonstrators arrested

JAKARTA: Three people have been named suspects in the theft of police equipment during a protest outside the People's Consultative Assembly in Jakarta on Monday.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said Sudarto, a student of the University of Indonesia's (UI) school of mathematics and physics, a driver identified as Abu Bakar, and Subian, a sound system mechanic, were arrested on Monday after the rally and were now in police custody.

Prasetyo said the people were charged under article 363 of the Criminal Code for stealing officer's clubs and article 170 of the same law for vandalizing the MPR fence.

Defying the security cordon, some 500 people, including students grouped under the UI Student Executive Board (BEM), forced their way into the Assembly compound, demanding an end to the Annual Session on Monday. Police used water canons to disperse the crowd.

Bull Nationalist Freedom Party (PNBK) chairman Eros Djarot demanded on Tuesday the release of the suspects on his personal guarantee, but the police said the decision rested with the investigators. -- Antara

;JP;TSO; ANPAa..r.. Scene-antiterror-team Compensation for terror victims JP/4/terror

Compensation for terror victims

JAKARTA: The government has set up a team to calculate compensation for victims of last year's Bali bombings, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.

"In line with Antiterrorism Law No. 15/2003, victims of terror attacks deserve compensation from the government. We are asking a team to calculate funds the government has to provide," he said chairing a meeting on political and security affairs.

The team will be supervised by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. Also in the team are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General's Office.

No less than 202 people, mostly foreigners, were killed and hundreds of others injured when bombs ripped through Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club in Kuta on Bali island last October.

Susilo, nevertheless, did not say whether victims of other terror attacks in the country would also be paid compensation. -- JP