'Thuggery against media must end'

'Thuggery against media must end'

JAKARTA: A group of journalists and non-governmental
organizations (NGO) urged all Indonesian media workers on
Thursday to unite and strengthen ties to deter thuggery.

The appeal came amid a recent campaign against thuggery, which
was intensified after two Tempo journalists and one SCTV
cameraman became victims of violence in the course of their work
recently.

Speaking at the forum, senior journalist Fikri Jufri urged all
members of the media to take the initiative and begin aiding one
another and protecting journalists and activists via frequent
calls for an end to the increasing number of bullying, and
sometimes violent attacks.

"We should conduct frequent visits to all media groups and the
editor's clubs to carry out educational campaigns on how to
protect journalists and activists from violence," he said.--JP

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'Urban voter registration difficult'
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'Urban voter registration difficult'

JAKARTA: The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) admitted on
Thursday that registering voters in urban areas was more
challenging than in rural areas.

Toto E. Sastrasuanda, deputy head of the voter registration
process told reporters here that people who lived in apartments
were rarely available for registration.

"Most of them are unavailable during the week because they
work many hours, and on the weekends, they go out of town on
vacation," he said.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) contracted the BPS to
conduct the nationwide census and the voter registration process
in a bid to attain an integrated database on population for the
aggregation on legislative numbers in each district for the
upcoming general election.

Thus far, the BPS claimed that the voter registration process
had reached about 65 percent of the process. The registration
started on April 1 and is expected to finish on April 30.--JP

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Court delays Adam indictment
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Court delays Adam indictment

JAKARTA: The ad hoc human rights court decided Thursday on a
delay, until May 6, the indictment of former Udayana Military
commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri as the defendant failed to turn
up due to state duties.

Prosecutor S. Hozie told the court that Adam was assigned by
the Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto to
Aceh from April 22 to April 30 to evaluate the ongoing peace
process ahead of the Joint Council meeting scheduled for Friday
in Geneva, Switzerland.

A defense lawyer of the defendant, AB Setiawan, said however
his client left for the restive province earlier on Thursday.

This is the second time the court postponed the hearing, which
was expected to hear prosecutors' demand of sentence for Adam,
who is accused of human rights abuses in East Timor following a
UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999. The violation carries a
minimum jail sentence of 10 years under the Law No. 26/2000.

Despite admitting that he was ready to read a 100-page
indictment, prosecutor S. Hozie said that his team had not
decided on the minimum sentence demanded for Adam. -- JP

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Navy 'neutral' in procuring arms
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Navy 'neutral' in procuring arms

SURABAYA: Unlike the Air Force which has gone to many former
communist countries for its weaponry, the Indonesian Navy vowed
on Thursday to rely on itself in modernizing its weaponry.

"We opt not to take sides with either the West or East in
procuring our arms because we are committed to standing on our
own feet," Rear Adm. Yussuf Solichien, the Navy Education
commander, said in an apparent reference to the Cold War terms
for NATO allies and Soviet-bloc allies, on the sidelines of the
institution's 57th anniversary celebration here.

He was commenting on the Air Force, which acquired four
Russian-made jet fighters to end its long-standing dependence on
U.S. military aircraft.

Yussuf said the Navy had built cooperation with state ship
maker PT PAL in producing warships, including corvettes, starting
from 2005. Indonesia has purchased most of its warships from
Britain and the Netherlands.

The Navy has planned to add 22 warships to its fleet within
the next decade. -- JP