Four killed in further Aceh violence

Four killed in further Aceh violence

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: At least four people, including one alleged
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel, were killed in the latest round
of violence in Aceh over the weekend, official and residents said
on Monday.

Two male bodies bearing gunshot and cut wounds were found in
Keude Trieng village of Jeumpa district in Bireun regency on
Sunday. They were identified as Agus Yusuf, 23, and Junaidi
Abdullah, 25. Locals said the two men had been missing for about
one week.

Another victim died in a fierce armed clash with the military
in Lancok Baroh of Pidie regency on Saturday, Indonesian Military
(TNI) spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said.

It was also reported that an employee of PT Aceh Asian
Fertilizer (AAF), 32-year-old Zulkifli Ismail, was found dead
with gunshot wounds in Uteun Kot village on the outskirts of the
industrial town of Lhokeumawe in North Aceh on Saturday. -- JP

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Customs sued in Cirebon

CIREBON, West Java: The Cirebon branch of sea freight
forwarder PT Djakarta Lloyd has recently sued a number of
officials from the Customs and Excise Service, including its
director Permana Agung, for allegedly inflicting material and
non-material losses on the company, branch director Idris A.S.
said on Monday.

Idris added that the company was also seriously considering
launching a million-dollar lawsuit against the Customs and Excise
Service in the Cirebon District Court.

He explained that earlier this year two of the company's
containers, which carried two Mercedes Benzes, a Toyota Land
Cruiser and a Jaguar, were forcibly opened by Customs and Excise
officials without the necessary papers, thus causing material
damage considering that the vehicles were brand new, imported
luxury cars and were confiscated as evidence for further
investigation.

"The non-material losses arise from the fact that our
customers trust us less since the incident and, of course, the
death of one of our company's best employees, Priyatmono, who was
interrogated and questioned for hours by customs officials.
Unfortunately, he could not take the pressure," Idris said.

"He was last questioned on Feb. 16 this year. Shortly after,
he was admitted to the hospital and he passed away on March 1."

Idris said he was also going to file a defamation complaint
against customs officials, whom he said had ruined his chances of
being appointed a director of the company due to the incident.
--Antara

Team to probe Kupang election

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: A team set up by the Ministry of
Home Affairs will investigate allegations of money politics in
the mayoral election in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, a local
official said on Monday.

"The team will arrive in Kupang this week. The probe is being
initiated at the request of locals, and will prove whether the
mayoral election was flawed or not," said J.B. Kosapilawan, the
spokesman for the provincial administration.

The Kupang district legislative council elected on March 23
Col. Samuel Kristian as the city's new mayor, and Daniel Adoe as
his deputy.

The two, nominated by the Golkar and military/police factions
in the council, defeated Albert Foenay and Nicolaus Fransiskus,
the candidates of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan).

The election of Kristian and Adoe sparked a protest by PDI
Perjuangan, which said that the election was tainted. They
alleged that one of its legislators, Harry Teofilus, received a
Rp 10 million bribe to vote for Golkar's candidates. --Antara

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Subsidy for essential supplies

PUNCAK JAYA, Papua:Residents of Mulia in the isolated Puncak
Jaya regency in Papua are due to receive subsidies from the
Puncak Jaya administration for the transportation of basic food
supplies, a report said.

Puncak Jaya regency administration secretary Henok Ibo said on
Sunday that the subsidies, allocated in the 2002 Puncak Jaya
regency budget, had been authorized to prevent Puncak Jaya
residents from having to pay too much for commodities like sugar,
rice and instant noodles.

Puncak Jaya, located in the mountainous hinterland of Papua,
is one of the most isolated places in Indonesia considering that
there are absolutely no roads connecting it to the other
regencies in Papua, so that it can only be reached by air.

The aircraft normally used to reach the area include small
planes like Twin Otters, Pilatus Porters, Caravans and Cessnas.

Since all essential supplies from the Papuan capital Jayapura
are transported to Puncak Jaya by air, prices are automatically
much higher.

For example, sugar, which is sold in Jayapura at Rp 5,000 a
kilogram, goes for Rp 20,000 a kilogram in Mulia, and rice, sold
at Rp 3,000 a kilogram in Jayapura, fetches up to Rp 20,000 in
Mulia. --Antara

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Thousands may lose jobs in N. Sumatra

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Some 12,000 cold storage workers in
North Sumatra could lose their jobs because of a decree by the
Ministry of Industry and Trade allowing the direct export of
fresh shrimp, according to a local legislator.

"How can they not be laid off if fresh shrimp can be exported
directly without being processed first?" Adil Sirait, a member of
the provincial legislative council, said over the weekend.

He said the ruling, which was issued last year, violated a
regional regulation on fresh shrimp exports, which requires
exporters to follow certain procedures to obtain a health
certificate from authorities.

"As a result of the decree, fresh shrimp is now flooding
foreign markets, while at the same time the price of shrimp from
the ponds of small farmers has plunged, leaving the shrimp
farmers hopeless," Adil said.

He urged the North Sumatra administration to review the
implementation of the decree, which he said had harmed the
interests of shrimp farmers and the local economy. --Antara

Two alleged extortionists killed

PEKANBARU, Riau: At least two people accused of extorting
money from transmigrants in the town of Rokan Hilir, Riau, were
mobbed to death by local residents, officials said on Monday.

Four men arrived in Simpang Bunut village, Bagan Sinembah
subdistrict, on Saturday and allegedly began extorting money from
residents of the resettlement area. Word soon spread and local
residents quickly had the alleged extortionists surrounded.

One of the men attempted to disperse the mob by firing a gun
into the air. However, the mob closed in and beat one of the
alleged criminals to death, while the other three managed to
escape.

The next day, local residents seized another alleged
extortionist, along with the men's car. The mob burned the man to
death and torched the car.

Local police are investigating the incident. --Antara

Man gets four years in drug case

PALANGKARAYA, Central Kalimantan: A 40-year-old welder in the
town of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, was sentenced on Monday to
four years in prison for the possession of 10 ecstasy pills.

The panel of judges at the Palangkaraya District Court ruled
that Tong Sak Khian, alias Arifin, was guilty of the possession
of narcotics.

The court also fined the defendant Rp 150 million, or an
additional month in jail.

The defendant was arrested at the Bintang Hotel in
Palangkaraya on Dec. 9 last year.
Arifin said he accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal.
--Antara

'Surabaya Post' employees stage demo

SURABAYA: Dozens of journalists and workers from the closed
Surabaya Post daily protested in front of the East Java
legislative council on Monday, demanding that management hold an
extraordinary shareholders' meeting to decide their fate.

The protesters were received by the chairman of the council's
Commission E, Harbiah Salahuddin, and other legislators.

Syaiful Irwan, the head of the newspaper's labor union, said
Indra Jaya Aziz, one of the Surabaya Post's shareholders, failed
to abide by an agreement made during a shareholders' meeting on
May 29, in which the management was to pay workers their last
month's salary on June 3.

It was also agreed at the meeting to allow the entry of new
investors and that Indra Jaya would resign as president director
of the publishing company.

Responding to the workers' complaints, Harbiah vowed to summon
the shareholders of the Surabaya Post for a hearing with
legislators on June 10.

The newspaper ceased publication on May 1 because of financial
difficulties. --Antara

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Tax deduction for paying alms

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: A 1999 Indonesian law on setting off
religious alms against income tax -- specifically in the case of
individual taxpayers -- comes into effect in Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam province this June.

An official of the Aceh provincial agency for religious alms
(Bazis), T. Chairul Anwar, said on Monday that Bazis had already
sent out about 3,000 blank deposit receipts to several government
and private institutions in Aceh.

"Once filled in, the receipts can be used as evidence of
payment for setting off against income tax. This is not
applicable, however, to businesses, companies or corporations,"
Chairul Anwar said citing Law No. 38/1999. -- Antara.