Inquiry into deputy mayor demanded

BOGOR: A group of 21 non-governmental organizations urged the West Java governor to order the police to investigate newly elected Bogor deputy mayor Mochamad Sahid.

Sahid has been accused of submitting a fake high school diploma to run in the mayoral election.

The Joint Committee to Save Bogor (KBPKB) spokesman Deddy Djumiawan Karyadi told the media on Monday that an inquiry should be held soon before Sahid's inauguration later this month.

The police need a gubernatorial order before they can start an investigation into Sahid, who is currently Bogor City Council chairman.

Prior to the election, Sahid claimed he had graduated from a Jakarta high school on April 3, 1997. However, he was not able to present the original diploma at the time, but he did submit the diploma number.

Jakarta education agency confirmed that the diploma had been issued in the name of a Bekasi resident, but it had never issued a high school diploma for Sahid. -- JP

;JP;MLT; ANPAj..r.. Trial-drug-verdict Malaysian gets 11 years for drugs case JP/8/MULTA

Malaysian gets 11 years for drugs

TANGERANG: The Tangerang District Court sentenced Malaysian Tan Chan Wen, 31, on Tuesday to 11 years in prison for possessing 19,951 ecstasy pills.

The three-judge panel consisting of presiding Judge Suprapto, Maha Nikmah and Bambang Wirawan determined that the defendant was guilty of violating Article 59 of Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances and also ordered him to pay a Rp 100 million (US$11,905) fine.

The article carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.

The sentence was more lenient than that 15-year sentence and Rp 150 million fine demanded by the prosecution.

Tan was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on June 21, 2003, prior to boarding a plane to Batam, Riau.

The gate officers found a box wrapped in aluminum foil containing the ecstasy pills in his luggage. Tan admitted that some 400 of the pills were his, but claimed the rest belonged to Mr. Kent, who is still at large. -- JP

;JP;EVI; ANPAj..r.. great-VCD-police Police seize 17,000 pirated discs JP/8/g-vcd

Police seize 17,000 pirated VCDs

JAKARTA: City police raided two companies allegedly producing pirated video compact discs and confiscated 17,000 pirated music and movie video compact discs (VCDs).

The owners of the companies, identified only as HM and S, were last thought to be in Singapore and China, said Comr. Elly Lalia, an officer with the directorate of special crimes.

The police raided the premises of PT Karya Mas Vision Indo (KMVI) and PT Trisco Indo Cipta Mandiri (TICM), both located in the Nusa Indah warehouse compound, Tangerang, Banten, late last month.

At KMVI police found four injection machines, two printing machines, 18 bags of polycarbonate and 10,000 pirated VCDs.

At TICM police found 7,000 pirated VCDs titled Fatal Choices. --JP

;JP;SUF; ANPAj..r.. Great-Bogor-traders-rally Traders reject market renovation JP/8/

Traders reject market renovation

BOGOR: Hundreds of traders at Citeureup traditional market staged a protest rally outside the Bogor regental administration office on Tuesday, rejecting the administration's plan to renovate the market without consulting them.

Abdulah, 40, who sells children's clothes at the market, said the market's developer PT Javana Artha Buana had asked the traders to pay Rp 9 million (US$1,058) in annual rental fees for a new kiosk, almost twice the current Rp 4 million rent.

"How can we afford that?" Abdulah said.

Taufik Tanjung, deputy chairman of the Citeureup Market Cooperative (Kopas), added that the traders would also be charged an additional Rp 2.5 million to reserve a four-square-meter kiosk and administrative fees.

An incident marred the demonstration, in which the traders mobbed Supriyono, a trader who supported the new rental fees. The police rescued Supriyono from the mob.

The protesters dispersed at 2:30 p.m. after failing to meet Bogor deputy regent Albert Pribadi. -- JP ;JP;BBY;Antara; ANPAj..r.. Great-drugs-crime Police nab suspected marijuana dealer JP/8/

Police nab suspected marijuana dealer

BEKASI: Bekasi narcotics detectives apprehended a suspected drug dealer in Jatiasih housing complex, South Bekasi, late on Monday, and confiscated 25 packets of marijuana from the 24-year- old man.

The head of the police narcotics detectives, Comr. Rasino, said on Tuesday that the man, identified as Laurent Fredy, admitted that he was waiting for a buyer.

The police ignored the suspect's demand that they produce an arrest warrant and took him directly to the police station.

The man, who had been under surveillance for some time, refused to name the marijuana supplier, saying that all he cared about was the potential profit from selling the drug. "I don't need to know the name of the seller because I just need the stuff for me to sell," he said. -- Antara

;JP;BBY;Antara; ANPAj..r.. Great-Bekasi-education-budget JP/8/

Govt to increase education budget

BEKASI: Bowing to councillors' demands, the Bekasi administration revised the education budget to Rp 50 billion (US$5.8 million) from the proposed Rp 31 billion.

Tatiek Ruswartatik, chairwoman of Council Commission E for social welfare issues, said a larger budget was needed to rebuild damaged schools and to improve teachers' welfare.

"Hopefully, this way we can increase the quality of education and manpower in Bekasi," she said.

The commission had threatened to boycott the plenary meeting to endorse the budget should the administration refuse to allot more money for education. -- Antara