Five Bogor residents die mysteriously
BOGOR: Five residents of the same neighborhood in Kampung Parung Alen in Cikeas village, Sukaraja district, Bogor regency, died from a mysterious illness within 10 days of each other.
The victims were Tiyah, 15, her mother Nayah, 60, her mother- in-law Upi, 60, Aisyah, 35, and Herni, 13. They died between April 9 and April 19.
Tiyah's father, Uci, said that on April 12, Tiyah had a high fever, stomachache and headache. "I thought it was just a common illness, so I bought drugs at a warung (street stall), but there was no improvement. I was about to call for a mantri (medical aide), but she died."
Nayah died the following day. Before her death, her family took her to Salak Hospital in Bogor, but she could not be saved.
Herni's mother, Hakin, was running a high fever the night before she died on April 9.
Aisyah died on April 18, followed by Upi the following day.
The head of the local Epidemiology Surveillance and Immunization Office, Eulis Wulantari, said the cause of death was a mystery.
She suspected that Nayah and Aisyah died due to kidney failure, while Herni and Tiyah may have died from dengue hemorrhagic fever, while Upi may have had typhoid.
She said the Bogor health agency had checked 45 houses and found the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit dengue fever, in four houses.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever is common in the densely populated Kampung Parung Alen. Sanitation in the area is poor and houses are located close to dirty goat enclosures. --JP
;JP;BBY; ANPAj..r.. Focus-FPI-apology FPI apologizes for 'kidnapping' chief JP/8/FPI
FPI apologizes for 'kidnapping' chief
JAKARTA: The Islam Defenders' Front (FPI) said they were sorry for "kidnapping" chief Habib Rizieq Shihab from the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office on Monday, saying it was not planned beforehand and was done without the knowledge of his legal team.
FPI secretary-general Ahmad Shabri Lubis in his letter to the Attorney General on Tuesday said the incident was spontaneous and a reflection of the FPI supporters' disappointment with the police force whom he said had framed Rizieq.
In the letter, received by the Attorney General's Office on Wednesday, Lubis also asked the prosecutors to consider Rizieq's request to release him from detention, according to the office's spokesman Antasari Azhar.
Rizieq, who is being held at the Salemba detention center in Central Jakarta, is a suspect in a string of FPI attacks on entertainment spots and faces a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.
Head of the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, Muljohardjo, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the prosecutors would not process the request and instead would soon submit the case to court.
"The case would be delegated tomorrow (Thursday) to the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office who will later submit it to the Central Jakarta District Court," he added.-- JP
;JP;MULTA FIDRUS; ANPAj..r.. Focus-Tangerang-mayor Tangerang mayor again fails to testify JP/8/GREAT
Tangerang mayor again fails to testify
TANGERANG: Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin failed on Tuesday to answer a court summons to testify in the corruption trial of a former high-ranking official, the fifth time he failed to turn up in court.
Prosecutor Puji Rahardjo told the Tangerang District Court that the mayor said he had to go out of town, the same excuse he gave the four previous times for not testifying. This time he said he had to go to Bandung for a business trip.
Rather than ordering the prosecutor to use every means necessary to bring get the mayor into the courtroom, presiding judge Suprapto agreed to hear the mayor's written statements made during police questioning.
The court is hearing the case of Agus Burhanuddin, the former chief of the municipal finance and prosperity body and a former municipal administration assistant. He is being tried for corruption involving a total of Rp 5.8 billion.
If found guilty, Agus could be sentenced to 20 years in jail. --JP