Indonesian student dies in law-change protests

Yahoo – AFP, Denji Sari, September 26, 2019

The death appeared to mark the first fatality in days of street battles across
Indonesia (AFP Photo/STR)

An Indonesian student died Thursday as thousands hit the streets nationwide in a wave of opposition to a major overhaul of the country's criminal code and a bid to weaken its anti-corruption agency, police said.

The death appeared to mark the first fatality in days of street battles across the Southeast Asian country, which have left hundreds injured and sparked a call from Amnesty International to probe what it described as "massive police violence" against protesters.

The 21-year-old victim was rushed to hospital suffering from a chest wound and later died as riots erupted in Kendari city on Sulawesi island, where the local parliament was torched, authorities said.

But police denied playing a role in the death, amid social media claims that the engineering student was shot.

"There was an injured student among the crowd. He was taken to the hospital and declared dead as doctors tried to save him. He had a wound on his right chest, but I cannot confirm what kind of injury it was," Southeast Sulawesi police spokesman Harry Golden Hart told Metro TV.

Hundreds have been injured in the protests against a major overhaul of 

the country's criminal code (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

"None of our officers carried live bullets... or even rubber bullets," he added.

The unrest was sparked by a proposed bill that includes dozens of law changes -- from criminalising pre-marital sex and restricting sales of contraceptives, to making it illegal to insult the president.

There has also been a backlash against a separate bill that critics fear would dilute the powers of Indonesia's corruption-fighting agency -- known as the KPK -- including its ability to wire-tap graft suspects.

The demonstrations across the archipelago are among the biggest since mass street protests in 1998 brought down the three-decade Suharto dictatorship.

'Feedback'

Passage of the controversial changes has now been delayed.

The demonstrations across the archipelago are among the biggest since mass 

street protests in 1998 brought down the three-decade Suharto dictatorship

(AFP Photo/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)

And, on Thursday, President Joko Widodo appeared to backtrack on plans to press ahead with the anti-corruption agency law, saying he would consider revising it.

"There was a lot of feedback given to me" about the law, Widodo said during a televised press conference.

"Of course I'll consider (a revision) and after making a decision, I will announce it."

Earlier Thursday, officials said more than 500 students had been arrested after a night of street battles in downtown Jakarta between molotov-cocktail throwing protesters and riot police who shot tear gas into the crowds.

Meanwhile, a mass of students stormed and occupied the local parliament building in Sumatra's Padang city Wednesday.

Most of the Jakarta students were set free, but some were still being held after police found knives and other sharp weapons in their possession, police said.

Students have issued a list of demands including scrapping some of the 

criminal-code changes (AFP Photo/Bahauddin Raja BASO)

Students have issued a list of demands including scrapping some of the criminal-code changes, withdrawing troops from Indonesia's restive Papua region, and halting forest fires in Sumatra and Borneo that have unleashed toxic haze across Southeast Asia.

A vote on the criminal-code bill was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but Widodo has called for a delay in passing the controversial changes that could affect millions of Indonesians, including gay and heterosexual couples who might face jail for having sex outside wedlock, or having an affair.

Updating Indonesia's Dutch colonial-era criminal code has been debated for decades and appeared set to pass in 2018 before momentum fizzled out.

A renewed push this year, backed by Islamic groups, was met with a wave of criticism over what many saw as a draconian law that invaded the bedrooms of a nation with some 260 million people -- the fourth most populous on Earth.

Indonesia police fire tear gas at students protesting sex, graft laws

Yahoo – AFP, September 24, 2019

Protesters set fires and threw rocks at riot police in Makassar on Sulawesi
island to protest against a new criminal code law (AFP Photo/DAENG MANSUR)

Jakarta (AFP) - Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters outside Indonesia's parliament Tuesday as thousands demonstrated nationwide against a new criminal code that would, among other things, outlaw pre-marital sex and weaken the country's anti-graft agency.

Protesters covered their faces and scattered in all directions as chaos erupted in the centre of the sprawling capital, Jakarta.

Police also fired teargas at rock-throwing protesters in Makassar on Sulawesi island, while demonstrators broke down a barrier outside the governor's office in Semarang on Java island.

"(We) forcibly dispersed student because they were carrying out anarchist acts, damaging government property and throwing stones at police," said Dicky Sondani, a South Sulawesi police spokesman.

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered 

across the Southeast Asian archipelago (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered across the Southeast Asian archipelago -- including in cultural capital Yogyakarta and holiday hotspot Bali -- for a second day in a row.

On Tuesday, lawmakers debated a wide-ranging legal overhaul including hundreds of new laws that would criminalise pre-marital sex, restrict sales of contraceptives, make it illegal to insult the president, and toughen the Muslim majority country's blasphemy laws.

"We want the bill which is being debated to be revised," said Jakarta university student Amel.

"The police were excessive teargassing us. We weren't being violent," he added.

A vote on the bill was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but President Joko Widodo last week called for a delay in passing the proposed changes after a public backlash.

Riot police used water cannon against protesters in Sulawesi (AFP Photo/
Andri SAPUTRA)

The mooted changes could affect millions of Indonesians, including gay and heterosexual couples who might face jail for having sex outside wedlock, or having an affair.

Widodo's call for a delay came as the Australian embassy in Jakarta issued a fresh travel advisory, warning that the legislation could put unmarried foreign tourists in the crosshairs.

Millions of tourists visit Bali and other beach destinations in the Southeast Asian nation.

Widodo this week stood firm on plans to pass a separate bill that critics fear would dilute the investigative powers of the corruption-fighting agency -- known as the KPK -- including its ability to wire-tap suspects.

The police action came after flag- and placard-waving demonstrators gathered 

across the Southeast Asian archipelago (AFP Photo/ADEK BERRY)

Updating Indonesia's criminal code, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era, has been debated for decades and appeared set to pass in 2018 before momentum fizzled out.

A renewed push this year, backed by conservative Islamic groups, was met with a wave of criticism over what many saw as a draconian law that invaded the bedrooms of a nation with some 260 million people -- the fourth most populous on Earth.

An online petition calling for the bill to be scrapped garnered half a million signatures, while hundreds of thousands took to social media to vent their frustration.

Big Tobacco Dangles Big Bucks – but at a High Costi

Jakarta Globe, Basten Gokkon, October 22, 2015

Indonesia, where two-thirds of the adult male population smokes and two-fifths
of boys aged 13 to 15 also puff, remains one of the few bright spots for international
tobacco companies amid crackdowns by governments the world over.
 (EPA Photo/Stephen Morrison)

Jakarta. Tobacco control activists have urged the Indonesian government to turn down a $2 billion investment plan from one of the world’s biggest tobacco companies, citing public health concerns.

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit the United States next week where he will sign several agreements with the US government and American businesses, among them Philip Morris International, which has a 98 percent stake in H.M. Sampoerna, Indonesia’s biggest cigarette maker.

The deal with PMI will reportedly see the tobacco company invest $2 billion in Indonesia.

There has been no official word on what the money will go toward, but a confidential letter from Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi to President Joko Widodo, obtained by the Jakarta Globe, states that $500 million will be in the form of capital expenditure for H.M. Sampoerna.

The remaining $1.5 billion, the letter indicates, will apparently be raised through a share divestment, with proceeds going to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and the Health Ministry – the very same government institution tasked with enforcing tobacco-control measures.

Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek is known to be among the officials joining Joko when he kicks off his US trip this Sunday.

Neither the minister nor a spokesperson for the Health Ministry were immediately available for comment on the reported funding from the tobacco company. The Globe was unable to reach any PMI officials for comment.

‘Poisoning Indonesians’

Kartono Mohamad, the chairman of the government-funded National Commission on Tobacco Control (NCTC), said any investment by PMI in Indonesia would do more harm than good over the long term.

“Accepting the investment offer from Philip Morris means the president is poisoning Indonesians and selling out public health over mere investment,” he told the Globe.

Indonesia, where two-thirds of the adult male population smokes and two-fifths of boys aged 13 to 15 also puff, remains one of the few bright spots for international tobacco companies amid crackdowns by governments the world over. It is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that has yet to sign the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

PMI’s global net revenue in 2014 was $8.7 billion, down 16.9 percent from the previous year, and with countries in the region, such as Australia and Malaysia, tightening controls on tobacco sales and marketing, there is more of an incentive than ever for big tobacco to invest in Indonesia, Kartono said.

“Once Philip Morris has planted its $2 billion here, it will certainly look for a profit, and so long it still sees the benefits, we won’t be able to oust it from the country,” he said.

No political will

The government has shown little political will to act tough on cigarette sales and advertising, including to children. Last month the House of Representatives announced plans to recognize kretek, the traditional Indonesian clove-flavored cigarette, as an item if cultural heritage – thereby making it harder for the government to impose restrictions on kretek sales and advertising, and in fact obliging the state to support the manufacture and promotion of the cancer sticks.

Kartono said any measure to support the tobacco industry would have a massive public-health impact. The death toll from smoking-related illnesses in 2010, the last time the Health Ministry carried out such a census, was 190,000, and a surge in smoking-related ailments will stress an already overburdened public health infrastructure, Kartono warned.

“When a smoker gets sick, who will pay for the treatment? Certainly not Philip Morris,” he said.

He argued that most smokers would rely on the government’s BPJS Kesehatan health insurance program, which is already Rp 5 trillion ($369 million) in deficit despite only being launched earlier this year with Rp 21 trillion in state funding.

Targeting the young

“The meeting with Philip Morris will not help develop the nation and its people, but instead destroy the future of Indonesians,” said Hery Chariansyah, the executive director of Lentera Anak Indonesia, an NGO that advocates for child-friendly government policies.

He said tobacco companies in general tended to target young people, and that in Indonesia’s case this could have a devastating effect because the country’s demographic skews under 30.

“Any business-related agreement led by the government must prioritize the welfare of the people and the nation. And the meeting with Philip Morris definitely doesn’t do this,” Hery said.

He also noted that in 2009, 2010 and 2011, PMI had lobbied the House to prioritize deliberation of a contentious bill on the tobacco industry, on the pretext that it was meant to protect the interests of tobacco farmers.

With the planned signing of the $2 billion investment, and a trip to the United States last month by Indonesian legislators during which House Speaker Setya Novanto met with executives from PMI, Hery said it appeared almost certain that the bill would finally go to the House floor this time around.

Workers at risk

The tobacco lobby in Indonesia has long thwarted any attempt to more stringently regulate cigarette sales and advertising by claiming that those who would suffer the most would be the tens of thousands of Indonesians employed in cigarette factories.

The reality, however, is that greater investment in factory automation – including a transition from hand-rolled kretek production to a machine-rolled process at an H.M. Sampoerna factory in Karawang, West Java – is having the same effect of putting workers out of a job, Hery said.

According to filings, PMI’s operating profit from Asia plunged 31 percent to $3.2 billion in 2014 from the previous year, due to higher manufacturing costs, primarily in Indonesia.

With half a billion dollars in capital expenditure expected for H.M. Sampoerna, Hery warned of “even more tobacco industry workers getting fired.”

‘Blinded by cash’

Kartono of the NCTC said he was optimistic that Joko would reject PMI’s investment offer, but also warned that the president’s advisers could cloud his judgment.

“Hopefully Jokowi will not be blinded by the amount of cash being offered and fall into this investment trap set by Philip Morris,” he said.

A spokesman for the president did not respond to requests for comment from the Globe.

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Johan Cruijff confirms lung cancer diagnosis

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

" ... The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. ..."

Indonesia and China eye further infrastructure cooperation

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-29

Li Keqiang, right, meets Joko Widodo at the Great Hall of the People
in Beijing, March 27. (Photo/Xinhua)

China and Indonesia pledged more infrastructure construction and investment cooperation during a meeting between Premier Li Keqiang of China and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on Friday.

The Chinese government will encourage more reputable companies to invest in Indonesia and participate in the construction of high-speed railway, metro rail and port industrial parks, Li said.

He called on the two countries to conduct production capacity cooperation, through which China will help Indonesia turn its abundant resources into the material for industrialization development, and to increase two-way trade and investment.

Joko echoed Li, saying Indonesia hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in areas including energy, maritime industry, agriculture, aviation and tourism.

He welcomed Chinese investment and voiced support for the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), saying he hoped the AIIB could contribute to the region's economic development.

Indonesia officially joined the China-proposed AIIB in November 2014, making it a founding member.

With regards to China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) relations, Li hailed the positive role played by Indonesia in promoting the sound development of ties.

Li said China was ready to work with ASEAN to maintain the peace, development and prosperity of east Asia.

After meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Li and Joko also attended a bilateral economic cooperation forum, on the sidelines of which companies from the two countries signed around 30 deals worth US$40 billion, according to Suryo Bambang Sulisto, president of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Sulisto told the forum that China's investment in Indonesia's mining and maritime industry would bring good benefit to the country and Indonesia hoped to take advantage of China's economic growth.

Li said the two countries both had big populations, which means huge markets. They are complementary in terms of different industrialization processes. The two sides should combine China's advantage of technology and capital with Indonesia's advantage of market and resources to promote a coordinated upstream and downstream development.

The premier also pledged to encourage Chinese companies to increase investment to Indonesia.

Joko said Indonesia had demand for high-speed railway, port, airport, power plant and industrial parks. Indonesia will provide a good investment environment for Chinese companies.

Joko was invited by President Xi Jinping for a state visit. He will also go to Boao, in south China's Hainan province, to attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia conference.

Joko also met with Xi and top legislator Zhang Dejiang.

14 year old girl picks fight with bully TV host - and WINS!

14 year old Rachel Parent debates Kevin O'Leary on the issue of Genetically Modified Food. Rachel's website: http://www.gmo-news.com/

Canadian Biotechnology Action Network: www.cban.ca petition for mandatory GMO food labelling: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Brin

Rachel Parent

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Petition against Maldives rape victim flogging

Google – AFP, 22 March 2013 

Maldive President Mohamed Waheed speaks at the United Nations General

Assembly on September 27, 2012 in New York (AFP/File, Stan Honda)

COLOMBO — More than half a million people have signed an online petition condemning the Maldives over the sentencing of a 15-year-old rape victim to 100 lashes for pre-marital sex with another man.

The petition, started two days ago by New York-based campaign group avaarz.org, calls on Maldives President Mohamed Waheed to intervene and had been signed by 650,000 users on Friday afternoon.

"Let's build a million-strong petition... then threaten the islands' reputation through hard-hitting ads in travel magazines and online until he steps in to save her and abolish this outrageous law," Avaaz said on its website.

Last month the unidentified Maldivian girl was sentenced to a public flogging after police investigating a complaint that she was raped by her stepfather found that she had also been having consensual sex with another man.

President Waheed had expressed shock and asked the state attorney general to appeal the conviction amid an international outcry and condemnation from rights groups such as Amnesty International.

Under law in the Maldives, a low-lying archipelago of coral-fringed islands populated by 330,000 Sunni Muslims, the flogging will be carried out when the girl reaches the age of 18.

Premarital sex is illegal in the popular honeymoon destination, which observes elements of Islamic Sharia law as well as English common law. The fornication law is not known to have been applied to foreign tourists.

The child's stepfather is accused of rape and the murder of a baby born to his stepdaughter as a result. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

In September, a court in the Maldives ordered the public flogging of a 16-year-old who confessed to premarital sex. Her lover was jailed for 10 years.

The Avaaz.org petition can be seen .

On the Net:

• here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/maldives_global/?wSxzsdb

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