March 15, 2016 edition

Sorong Police chief Karimudin Ritonga was jolted awake by the news, which came at 3am: Labora Sitorus was back, and he was turning himself in.
He hastened to the interrogation room on Monday morning last week to see the man who had been defying prison sentences for years.

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More Law articles in other editions

March 8, 2016 edition

Soldiers in Jakarta raided the Kostrad (Army Strategic Reserves Command) housing compound in Tanah Kusir two weeks ago, moving in on men of their own. "We received intelligence that a drug ring was operating there," said Kostrad Information chief Lt. Col. Heru on Thursday last week. The afternoon raid involved Kostrad Intel Assault Battalion and the Army Military Police. The At-Taqwa Mosque, located about 300 meters away from the five targeted houses, served as the mission command center.
Those targeted in the raid included Second Sgt. Zakaria, Chief Sgt. Karyawan, Sgt. Maj. Ersing and Sgt. Maj. Suryadi, as well as a civilian named Yayat. Karyawan, Ersing, Suryadi and Yayat are next-door neighbors, while Zakaria lives across the street.At 2:00pm sharp, the command moved in. The troops met no resistance. "I was at home and didn't hear a thing," said Khatmi, Yayat's closest neighbor. Soon afterward, Zakaria and the others were taken to Kostrad adjunct general headquarters. According to Heru, the soldiers were to be handed over to military police and the lone civilian to either the police or the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).

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March 1, 2016 edition

Edwin Hidayat Abdullah's appearance at the AGO complex last Monday lasted only about 10 minutes. "I wasn't questioned, so I'm going home right away," said the deputy of energy, logistics, area and tourism of the state-owned enterprises (SOE) ministry last Thursday.
Edwin was summoned in connection with an agreement struck between Hotel Indonesia Natouran SOEand Grand Indonesia, a subsidiary of the Djarum Group, over a decade ago. The district attorney asked Edwin to bring along the contract documents.

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February 23, 2016 edition

Three-years of determined effort on the part of the Indonesian Judges' Discussion Forum is starting to bear fruit two weeks ago, the Expert Council at the House of Representatives (DPR) delivered a bill on the Office of Judges to the DPR's Legal Affairs Commission.
Chairman of the Judges' Discussion Forum, Djuyamto, described the inclusion of the draft in the 2016 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) as a new stage in the struggle for expanding welfare and stability for judges. "So far there has been some disparity," Djuyamto said on Wednesday last week. In 2012, Djuyamto and peers initiated a special rule on the office of judges.

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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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