February 9, 2016 edition
A series of WhatsApp text messages from an unknown number surprised Yulianto early last January when they popped up on his iPhone. Yulianto, who is chief of the Attorney-General Office (AGO)'s corruption investigation subdirectorate, considered the messages a thinly veiled threat: There was no identity listed, only a profile photo of the political party, Persatuan Indonesia (Perindo).
After he received a third message from the same number exhorting him to 'have nothing to do' with the Mobile-8 case he was investigating, as it was the responsibility of the board of directors, Yulianto became convinced the sender was Perindo's chairman Hary Tanoesoedibjo. "The clues are clear. He had claimed he was above the board of directors," Yulianto said last Tuesday.
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January 26, 2016 edition
The meeting between the governance commission (Commission II) of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Ombudsman selection committee on Thursday two weeks ago was unusually lively. Selection committee chair Agus Dwiyanto counted that at least 30 of the 44 Commission II members were present in the last meeting. "They appeared enthusiastic and critical," said Agus last Thursday.
On that particular day, certain members of Commission II lobbed ostensibly accusatory questions. They hinted that two members of the selection committee, Zumrotin K. Susilo and Anis Hidayah, had violated the code of ethics. The Senayan politicians accused the two individuals of conspiring to smoothen the passage of the candidates from non-governmental organization (NGO) activist circles.
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January 19, 2016 edition
Bona Sigalingging never missed a count of how many times the congregation of the Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI Yasmin) had conducted their services on the street across from the State Palace in Jakarta. The latest Sunday service on January 3 was the 108th held on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.
Neither do they only use the location for their fortnightly prayer meets. For the last four years, they have also celebrated Christmas services right there on the road. On Christmas Day last year, GKI Yasmin worshippers held a joint-service with the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Filadelfia (the Batak Protestant Church) from Bekasiwho have also been evicted from their own church. "We decided to do Christmas services there because we have been banned from worshipping in our church," said Bona, a spokesman for GKI Yasmin, on Wednesday last week.
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January 12, 2016 edition
Throughout the court hearing, Rasio Ridho Sani, director-general for the environment ministry's law enforcement, could be seen fidgeting restlessly. He would look at his cellphone for text messages. Occasionally, he would rise to talk to other visitors in the courtroom in the Palembang District Court. On that particular Wednesday a fortnight ago, the judge read out his ruling over the ministry's charges against Bumi Mekar Hijau company.
The ministry had sued Bumi Mekar for a Rp7.9 trillion compensation for burning a 20,000-hectare forest concession plot. This is the largest suit ever filed by the government in a case related to intentional forest fires. But, the panel of judges presided by Parlas Nababanwith Eliwarti and Kartijono as panel membersrejected the entire lawsuit.
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January 5, 2016 edition
It took five months for members of the National Ombudsman to convince Danang Girindrawardana to validate recommendations on Novel Baswedan's report. Initially, the chairman of the Ombudsman office refused to sign off on the result of their investigation of Novel's report, which began in May last year.
In fact, he outright rejected a draft of the recommendation presented to him in mid-August. "Initially there was a difference of perception between the chairman and the supervisory team regarding its contents," said Ombudsman Commissioner for Supervision Pranowo Dahlan last week.
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December 29, 2015 edition
Chuck Suryosumpeno will find it hard to forget the Attorney-General Office's (AGO) memo he received on December 4, 2015. The memo, accusing him of bypassing his superiors and disregarding his obligations as state prosecutor, was delivered that evening to his Maluku AGO office by courier. As a result of the memo, Chuck lost his job as the province's chief state prosecutor.
The issue was how he handled Hendra Rahardja's assets in 2011 and 2012, when Chuck headed the Task Force for the Disposal of Misappropriated and Other Confiscated Goods. Hendra's assets consisted of three properties located in Jatinegara, East Jakarta; Puri Kembangan, West Jakarta; and in Bogor, West Java. "A week later, I was accused of misappropriating them," Chuck told Tempo two weeks ago.
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December 22, 2015 edition