JP/5/AUSTRALIA

JP/5/AUSTRALIA

Australia urges
stability in Papua

JAYAPURA, Papua: Australia has reiterated its stance that it
wants stability in Papua.

The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, David Ritchie
reportedly claimed that his government was supporting the Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia as well as the special
autonomy scheme that was currently being planned for Indonesia's
easternmost province.

"As Indonesia's closest neighbor, Australia wants stability in
Papua," Ritchie explained the Australian stance on Thursday
during a gathering in Jayapura. The Ambassador visited the
province from Tuesday to Thursday and during the visit, the
Ambassador met prominent figures in the province such as Papua
Governor Jaap Salossa and chief of Trikora military command Maj.
Gen. Nurdin Zainal.

The visit was aimed at seeking first-hand information on
current affairs in Papua. -- JP

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ANPAa..r..
Yogyakarta-DPRD-prosecutor

JP/5/FOCUS

17 councillors
named suspects

YOGYAKARTA: Yogyakarta prosecutors named on Friday 17 former city
councillors as suspects in a corruption case. They will now be
tried for receiving Rp 17 million (US$7,978) each in severance
pay.

The severance pay was deemed illegal as there was no provision
for it under the law.

Deputy chief of Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office Godang Riyadi
Siregar said on Friday that the prosecutor's office would summon
the suspects soon for more interrogations.

Separately, one of the councillors, Nazaruddin complained that
he was unfairly singled out.

"All the councillors in Yogyakarta province have received the
severance pay, but why do the prosecutors only name us suspects?"
he wondered. -- JP

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ANPAa..r..
Police-Riau-election

JP/5/FOCUS

Campaign teams assure
peaceful election

BATAM, Riau Islands: Riau Islands provincial police signed on
Friday a peace agreement with the campaign managers for a group
of governor candidates in the province as a direct election
approaches.

Through the agreement, the campaign teams agreed that they
would work to prevent any conflict ahead of the election. The
agreement was signed by chief of Riau Islands province Sr. Comr.
Anton Bachrul Alam and representatives of three campaign teams.

The fear of violent clashes between supporters of each
candidate is very real. Just a few weeks ago, supporters of
canditates Ismeth Abdullah and Nyat Kadir engaged in a violent
brawl. -- JP

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Demak-drought-farmers

JP/5/FOCUS

Drought begins
to affect C. Java

DEMAK, Central Java: Drought-like conditions have been reported
in Demak regency, Central Java in the past few weeks, sparking
fear of an imminent harvest failure.

Sutikno, a farmer in Waru subdistrict here, said he had hoped
to harvest his rice next month, but without rain, he would suffer
harvest failure. While Sutikno was desperately waiting for rain,
other farmers have already decided to replace their rice crops
with secondary crops, normally planted during the dry season.

Chief of Central Java's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency
(BMG) in Semarang, Widada Sulistya, said that drought-like
conditions began in eastern parts of Central Java in April and it
would begin to affect the entire province by June. -- JP