Bandung. Indonesian authorities have arrested a second prison guard this month for alleged drug-dealing, this time working ironically enough at a penitentiary for drug offenders.

Agus Irianto, the chief warden of Banceuy Penitentiary in Bandung, confirmed late on Friday that the guard, Dedy Romadi, was arrested earlier in the day in Jakarta with 16.3 kilograms of methamphetamine and 778 ecstasy pills.

“It’s true that he was caught, but I don’t know the exact details yet,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

“From the latest developments, they’ve seized nearly 17 kilos of meth [from the suspect] and he’s being held for further investigation.”

Reports from Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, which carried out the arrest, suggest that the guard was a known drug courier working for an Iranian dealer, who was also arrested during the bust at the Atrium shopping mall in Senen, Central Jakarta.

When BNN officers arrested the pair on Friday, they found Dedy in possession of one kilogram of meth. He later led the officers to his boarding room in Bandung, where officers discovered the rest of his stash, totaling 16.3 kilograms as well as nearly 800 ecstasy pills.

Agus said Dedy had been on his day off when he was arrested, adding that the news of a guard at his prison dealing in drugs came as a surprise to him.

“I leave it all up [to the BNN]. I certainly won’t cover for him,” he said.

However, the Justice Ministry, which oversees the prisons department and was not involved in the bust, is already making its excuses, claiming that only the one kilogram of meth Dedy was caught with belonged to him, while the remainder of the drugs belonged to the Iranian national.

Both suspects could face the death penalty if charged and convicted of drug trafficking.

Agus did not say whether his office planned to conduct an internal inspection to see if any other guards may also have been involved in the drug trade.

The bust comes just over a week since the arrest of a guard from the prison island of Nusakambangan off Central Java, the site of 13 of the 14 executions carried out so far this year – all involving drug convicts.

In that arrest, officers caught Bayu Anggit Permana, a guard from the island’s Batu Penitentiary, with 364 grams of meth. A prisoner at the island, one of several on Nusakambangan, later admitted to paying Bayu to smuggle the drugs out of the prison.

Police have charge Bayu and Abdul with drug dealing – not trafficking – which carries a sentence of 12 to 20 years.

Drug seizures are common at prisons on Nusakambangan, where officials have a history of being complicit in allowing prisoners to set up meth labs.

The island was also the location for the executions on April 29 of eight convicted drug offenders, seven of them foreign nationals, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

In going against international condemnation of the executions, President Joko Widodo claimed Indonesia was in the grip of a “drug emergency,” and that the death sentence served as a deterrent against would-be drug offenders.

The arrests of Bayu and now Dedy – and countless other offenders in between – would seem to suggest otherwise.

The post Another Prison Guard Busted With Meth; Officers Seize 16 Kilos appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Leather Liebeskind handbags arranged on a shelf at its Bandung store, the brand’s first flagship store in Southeast Asia. (JG Photo/Yuli Krisna)

Bandung. German handbag and accessories brand Liebeskind officially opened its standalone flagship store at the Paris van Java mall in Bandung, its first boutique in Southeast Asia, after previously gaining popularity through retail distribution in Urban Icon stores across Indonesia.

“When we first introduced  Liebeskind in Bandung, we sold our entire stock in under a week without any promotion,” Liebeskind Berlin sales director Michael Stührenberg said in Bandung.

“While sales in other [locations] are strong, we have never seen a product debut quite like what we saw in Bandung.”

Liebeskind first entered the Indonesian market at the end of 2013, distributing its products at selected Urban Icon stores before eventually expanding its reach by distributing to even more Urban Icon stores in the country and through one-off events such as a pop-up store at the Plaza Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta.

“[We chose Bandung] because of the crowd and the taste of its people – we feel like we fell in love at first sight [with the city],” Stührenberg said, adding that Bandung became an obvious choice for Liebeskind due to the many things it had in common with Berlin.

“It has a lot of similar cultural aspects and the young crowd that we have in Berlin. [The people] have a similar vibe – their coolness and their innovation, it strikes us as something that can be very helpful for developing our brand for the entire Indonesian market,” he said.

Like Bandung, Stührenberg said, Berlin is a city known for its artistic touches and its creative scene, inspiring Liebeskind to also collaborate with local street artists, one of whom made a special mural with the word “Bandung” in the parking lot of the Paris Van Java mall for the store’s opening.

Indonesian actress Olivia Jensen, left, fashion icon Ayla Dimitri and singer Lala Karmela, named Liebeskind’s ‘muses,’ pose in front of a mural created by Bandung street artist Stereoflow at Liebeskind’s store opening on May 8. (JG Photo/Yuli Krisna)

Liebeskind’s Bandung outlet is also designed similar to its latest concept store in Germany, adopting not just its design but also its little details and touches, as well as its furniture.

“The furniture is also built in Germany, which we then brought here, so it’s 100 percent Berlin,” Stührenberg said, adding that the company also made sure to add touches of Indonesian culture to the store.

With the opening of its Bandung outlet, Liebeskind will also be releasing the Liebeskind Summer 2015 collection, introducing its select handbags, wallets and other accessories that come in a variety of modern styles.

Indonesian actress Olivia Jensen, named Liebeskind’s “muse” alongside local fashion icon Ayla Dimitri and singer Lala Karmela, said she was a huge fan of Liebeskind’s leather goods and was confident the brand would grow within the Indonesian market.

“I love [Liebeskind] because it’s all leather goods,” she said.

“It has a great opportunity in the Indonesian market because no other brands offer leather goods with such optimal quality. The design is also up-to-date, very modern. I think it’s suitable for young adults and young women like me.”

Stührenberg said he was optimistic that Indonesian consumers would find great interest in Liebeskind products, which he guaranteed represented high quality at affordable prices.

“Liebeskind is always about accessible prices. Our price quality and value is really, really good and we only use the finest leather material for our handbags and accessories, the finest metal pieces that you can have,” he said.

“I am 100 percent optimistic that this would be the first store and not the last store in Indonesia.”

The Liebeskind store is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Paris van Java, resort level, Bandung.

The post Liebeskind Brings Berlin Style to Bandung appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Bandung. Security will be one of the main focuses at the upcoming Asian-African Conference, according to President Joko Widodo, who says special sessions will discuss the situation in Yemen, Syria and the South China Sea conflict.

“There are issues in Asia and Africa that require immediate attention. We need global stability. We need global justice. That’s what we are advocating for at the conference,” the president said as he inspected preparations for the AAC in Bandung on Thursday.

A total of 79 foreign delegations have confirmed their attendance for the AAC — to be held in Jakarta and Bandung from Sunday through next week Friday— including 28 heads of state and government.

Member nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are scheduled to stage a meeting at the AAC to discuss conflicts in the Middle East, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday.

Kalla said Joko had spoken with several world leaders by phone, including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, during which they agreed that peaceful resolutions to various conflicts should be sought during the conference.

Among those confirmed to attend are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

According to a Japan Times report published on Monday, Abe said Japan would use the conference to make further contributions to development in Asia and Africa.

Xi’s attendance, meanwhile, is meant to show the Chinese government’s intentions to contribute directly to maintaining the spirit of the 10-point “declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation” produced at the end of the 1955 conference, according to Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia.

Observers have high hopes that the upcoming 60th commemoration of the first AAC summit in Bandung can produce significant outcomes — ranging from a concrete road map for an independent Palestine, to a higher geopolitical stature for countries from the two continents.

The Asian-African Summit, which will feature heads of state and government, is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the Jakarta Convention Center, while a ceremony to commemorate the 1955 conference will take place in Bandung the following day. It will include a walk by the leaders down Jalan Asia-Afrika in the West Java capital, retracing a similar procession by the leaders of 60 years ago.

The anniversary conference is also expected to conclude with two other declarations: the Bandung Message, and the Declaration of Reinvigorating the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership. Both are expected to redefine and bolster the relationships and partnerships between Asian and African nations.

The 60th anniversary commemoration of the Bandung conference will also feature a host of other events on the sidelines, including the Asian-African Business Summit in Jakarta, as well as a “smart city” summit, a student conference and a carnival — all held in Bandung.

“I see in general the city is about 95 percent ready,” Joko said as he toured Bandung.

“There is still some paint missing. Some flowers maybe here and there.”

Nearly 10,000 police personnel will be dispatched to provide security during the series of events.

Palestine

The conference will issue three declarations, according to Darmansjah Djumala, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s policy development and studies center.

The first will be a declaration to revitalize the 1955 summit’s 10 principles, also known as the Bandung Spirit, which include, among others, visions of freedom, human rights equality, and cooperation.

The second declaration involves the strengthening of new partnerships among Asian and African countries.

“Asian and African countries will also issue a declaration to support the creation of an independent Palestinian state,” Djumala said during a seminar in Bandung on Tuesday.

Representatives from both continents fully support the Palestinian people’s bid for statehood, according to South Africa’s ambassador to Indonesia, Pakamisa Augustine Sifuba.

“The world has yet to see freedom and independence unless the Palestinians have their own country,” he said.

Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Fariz Mehdawi welcomed the call of support, stressing that the continued lack of independence for Palestine would be unfinished business for the AAC.

He added that the conference had inspired nations from both Africa and Asia to fight for independence.

“But here we are. We still have Palestine still struggling to get out of colonialism,” Mehdawi said.

Study center

In an effort to strengthen ties among Asian and African countries, Padjadjaran University in Bandung and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry have joined hands to establish the Asia-Africa study center.

“We have allocated resources to make the center work,” Padjadjaran University rector Tri Hanggono Ahmad said on Tuesday, adding that two professors and at least Rp 1 billion ($77,960) would be allocated for the center.

“The center aims to create scholars, including Ph.D. graduates,” he said.

The Asia Africa study center also aims to develop educational values in line with the Bandung Spirit, the Foreign Ministry’s Djumala said.

Both Tri and Djumala called on other Asian and African countries to work with the Padjadjaran center and create similar organizations  in their respective countries.

The post Security, Peace to Headline Asian-African Conference appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Bandung. Teachers in Bandung, West Java, have raised concerns over the distribution of thousands of school books, which they say teach religious intolerance and radicalism.

Iwan Hermawan, vice principal of the State Senior High School 9, said his school received 440 books on Islamic teachings, which contain a chapter titled “Rise Up All Islamic Fighters” and details the teachings of Muhammad Abd Wahhab, the founder of the Wahhabi Muslim movement.

Wahhabism is known for its ultraconservative, literal interpretation of Islam.

One part of the book reads: “Those who worship other than Allah are infidels and must be killed.”

Iwan said the books have been distributed by the Ministry of Education and Culture to schools across West Java since August.

“This can spark intolerance and frictions with other religious groups,” Iwan said. 

The book is officially printed and distributed by the Ministry of Education and even contains a prologue by then-minister Mohammad Nuh.

“This means the book is compiled, studied and examined by various people under the minister M. Nuh,” Iwan said.

The book was printed as part of the controversial 2013 curriculum.

The book listed the names Mustahdi and Mustakim as authors and Yusuf A Hasan and Muhammad Saerozi as reviewers. 

Iwan, who is also the secretary general of the Indonesian Independent Teachers Federation (FGII), said the same book was found in dozens of high schools and vocational schools across Bandung. 

“I am concerned that students will interpret [the book] the wrong way. I am also fearful that teachers with the same [radical] perspective will teach students intolerance and radicalism,” Iwan said.

“[The teachers] will think it is alright to teach radicalism, because this is a book sanctioned by the education ministry.”

The FGII on Tuesday officially requested for the book to be recalled. The book’s presence sheds new light on how extremism and intolerance flourishes and spreads in Indonesia, particularly among school students.

A recent survey by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, involving nearly 700 students from 76 high schools in Jakarta and 38 in Bandung, showed that 7 percent of the respondents agreed with the Islamic State movement’s aims.

“That means one in every 14 students agrees with ISIS,” Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the non-governmental group, said in Jakarta on Monday, referring to the extremist group’s old acronym.

He added that 75 percent of students have heard of IS, mostly from social media and the Internet. Most have a negative view of the radical movement, saying that they recognize that IS is a sadistic group intent on spreading terror and using violence in the name of religion.

But those who sympathize with IS do so because they believe the terror group has established an Islamic caliphate. 

They said they agreed with the view that Indonesia’s five founding principles of Pancasila should be replaced with Islamic ideology.

Setara researcher Muhamad Syauqi said some of the students who sympathize with IS contributed to the so-called “jihadist selfie” phenomenon, where they spread pictures through social media of youths in uniform — presumably IS members in Syria or Iraq — who take photos of themselves in front of army tanks or while holding rocket launchers.

“That makes them [those spreading the  selfies] feel ‘cool,’ ” Syauqi said.

The book also confirms suspicion among some human rights and religious tolerance advocates that the government — or at least some elements of it — is to some degree involved in the spread of intolerance and radicalism despite pledging otherwise. 

Communications and Information Technology Minister Rudiantara said last week that the government recently begun working with information technology firms such as Google to block websites containing pro-terrorism content.

Indonesians were recently shocked by a video that appeared to show Indonesian-speaking children training with assault rifles in front of an IS flag. The video has since been removed from most websites, including Google-owned YouTube.

Rudiantara said the partnerships had enabled the government to remove 78 Indonesian sites with pro-terrorism content.

National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Marciano Norman said his office was also joining forces with the communications ministry to curb pro-IS propaganda on the Internet.

But the House of Representatives’ Commission I, which oversees defense, intelligence, foreign affairs, communication and information, responded by summoning Minister Rudiantara to explain the government’s decision to block access to 19 websites believed to have spread radical Islamic ideology.

“We will invite the communications minister immediately to give an explanation,” Hanafi Rais, deputy chairman of Commission I, said on Tuesday. 

The ministry said the sites were blocked after it received a request from the National Counterterrorism Agency, which included them in a list of 22 media sources allegedly spreading radical ideology.

Hanafi attacked the government’s “rash” decision to block access to the websites. 

“The government’s decision to block the media could create the impression that the government under President Joko Widodo is developing Islamophobia,” he said.

Meanwhile, police are investigating what appears to be a failed bomb attack on the Kompas TV office in Makassar, South Sulawesi, by alleged sympathizers of the IS.

“We are still investigating the case,” Sr. Comr. Endi Sutendi, a spokesman for the South and West Sulawesi Police, told Tempo.co on Tuesday.

“We can’t immediately draw a conclusion,” he added.

The bomb was found around 9 p.m. on Monday, in a plastic bag placed some 20 meters from the office in Panakkukang subdistrict.

“I didn’t open the package and told Panakukkang Police about it,” said the head of security of the Kompas TV office, Gassang Daeng Kulle.

The bomb package had a statement written on it that said “To Kompas sampah [trash] dari [from] Islamic State,” and came with a handwritten letter threatening “infidel” Indonesian media. It was signed “Anshor Daulah Makassar,” an alleged IS sympathizer group.

A police bomb squad arrived at the office in time to defuse the bomb.

The post Islamic Textbooks Spark Concern Among Teachers appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Bandung. Search and Rescue Agency, or SAR, personnel and local residents on Monday recovered all known victims of a landslide that claimed 12 lives and caused untold damage to houses in Sukabumi, West Java.

“Today rescue operations ran smoothly thanks to the improved weather. A dozen victims have been found,” Yana Rusyana, the coordinator of disaster mitigation and operation center at the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said on Monday.

In Cimerak village, 12 people were found dead after a cliff collapsed on their homes Saturday night. 

Ten were local residents to the area, identified as Maya (13), Aisyah (50), Lilis (36), Opan Sopardi (56), Dede (40), Aldi (12), Elsa (15), Egi (6), Abdul Muti (43) and Deni (40). 

Two Cianjur residents were also killed, identified as Nyai Jamilah (37) and Lisdiawati (4).

The landslide destroyed 10 houses and left another severely damaged.

The BPBD evacuated 290 residents to an elementary school a kilometer away from where the disaster struck to avoid further injuries from either the rubble or another possible landslide.

“We are still waiting for a report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to decide whether or not the evacuees need to be relocated,” Yana said. 

Yana said the landslide happened at 9:30 p.m. local time after a long rain on Saturday. 

The village is prone to landslides due to its hilly geography, according to Yana.

A team of 600 BPBD staff and volunteers will clear the site.

The post All Victims Found in Sukabumi Landslide appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Bandung. Prosecutors in West Java arrested on Friday the head of Sumedang district, Ade Irawan, on charges of embezzling regional funds during his time as a local councilor.

“We have arrested the Sumedang district head [...] as part of a corruption investigation,” Suparman, a spokesman for the provincial attorney’s office, told reporters on Friday.

Ade, who from 2009 to 2013 was the speaker of the City Council in Cimahi, the Sumedang capital, is accused of embezzling Rp 1 billion ($76,000) in travel funds earmarked for city officials and councilors in 2011. Incidentally, that figure is exactly equal to the minimum threshold for an investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Ade is also being investigated in a separate embezzlement case related to Cimahi’s 2010 municipal budget.

“We are developing the 2010 case. Investigators are still coordinating with the BPKP to calculate state losses,” Suparman said, referring to the State Finance Development Comptroller by its initials.

Ade is being detained at Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung. Although Sumedang has its own prison, prosecutors fear that Suparman could use his position to “influence or intimidate witnesses.”

Ade’s lawyer, Kuswara S, Taryono, dismissed prosecutors’ fears, saying his client had been cooperative throughout the investigation.

“We will consult with Ade and his family about this arrest. We will consider requesting bail, since [Ade] has many things to do as district chief. Also, Sumedang district is having its anniversary soon,” the lawyer said.

Ade said little to reporters as he was escorted from the prosecutors’ office for transfer to the prison. “I want to thank the West Java Prosecutors Office which has welcomed me warmly,” he said.

Ade was sworn in on Jan. 13, 2014, after serving as Sumedang’s deputy district head since July 2013. He replaced Endang Sukandar, who died in office in November 2013 at the age of 64.

The post District Chief In West Java Arrested on Graft Charges appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Bandung. Twelve people in Cirebon, West Java, have been arrested for assaulting, mugging and stripping a local police officer who had intervened in a heated argument.

“The arrests were the result of police investigation into the assault which happened on Sunday at 2 a.m.,” Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dani Kustoni said on Thursday.

Three of the suspects had to be shot in the leg for trying to evade arrest, while two others made a successful getaway and are now fugitives.

The incident began when a plainclothes officer tried to quell a fight involving the suspects.

“Instead, the officer became a victim. The victim told his assailants that he was a police officer, but they kept beating him and even took his stuff,” Dani said.

He added the suspects stole the officer’s cell phone and around Rp 1 million ($76) in cash.

The suspects then stripped the officer of his clothes.

“They took his pants off and paraded him around the area,” he said.

The police chief said the suspects belonged to the same motorcycle gang and were under the influence of alcohol.

Police also confiscated several bladed weapons from the group.

The post Arrests Made in Pants-Stealing Motorcycle Gang Case appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.