Remember Cikeusik?

I found recent stories of Islamic organisations launching hate campaigns against Shia moslems very disturbing. A quick google search on Anti Syiah came up with links to websites, blogs and facebook groups declaring "war" against the Shiite people. The feeling of hatred is familiar. It is almost similar to the ones incited towards Indonesian Ahmadis culminating with the massacre in Cikeusik in 2011. I was re-reading my original draft and decided to post it here. All 2,500 words of it. the edited version can be found here.


The opening trial for 12 men, part of around 1,500 lynch mob who killed 3 Ahmadis last February in Cikeusik, Banten, are facing charges at the Serang District Court. Now moving to its fourth week, the panel of judges will start hearing testimonies from witnesses.

Footages of the attack are still available on YouTube, in which semi-naked bodies of two men, later identified as Roni Pasaroni and Warsono from North Jakarta, were brutally pelted with stones. The perpetrators could face between 12 years in jail and death if convicted.

The Globe met with survivors of the attack Ahmad Masihuddin, 24, and Irwan, 29.

Masihuddin's survival could be attributed to his knowledge on martial arts. The Police had pronounced him dead when his muddy naked body was thrown into a police truck.

“I was dragged 500 meters by these people, along the way they beat me up with rocks, bamboo poles, and slashed me with their machetes, I lost consciousness and I thought I was dead already,” he told the Globe.

Irwan was deeply traumatized by the attack and almost refused to talk about the incident. Until now he has refused to be interrogated by the Police.

‘We were told it was only a demonstration’

Irwan and Masihuddin went to Cikeusik separately on Saturday night.

“I was at our regular Koran recital meeting in Petojo [Central Jakarta], Roni came to me and asked if I wanted to go with him to Cikeusik. I asked him what for, he told me to guard a demonstration,” he said.

Aroun 10 p.m., Irwan, Roni, and Warsono were picked up by Deden Sujana, head of security of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI). Deden almost lost his right arm when he used it to parry with a machete. He was later named as suspect under the allegation of triggering the attack.

Separately, Mashuddin was at his home in Kali Deres, West Jakarta, when he received a text message right before midnight from Eki.

“He’s on holiday and asked me to replace him to guard an Ahmadiyah asset in Cikeusik. Without thinking it over I agreed,” he said.

Masihuddin worked as an administration staff in JAI, while Eki and Tubagus work for the security department with Deden. However Masihuddin was well-trained in self-defence. He’s a taekwondo black belt holder when he was just 15, and became a Muay Thai kickboxing instructor when he was only 18 years old. Aside from that he also practiced yoga.

A 2008 decree restricted the Ahmadiyah's religious freedoms but stopped short of banning the sect outright. Even so, senior government officials say the Ahmadiyah should accept mainstream Islam or renounce their faith.

The sect claims 500,000 followers in Indonesia, where it has existed in relative peace since the 1920s.

Being the minority and frequently victimized by hardliners and fundamentalist group made Ahmadiyah communities stand for each other in times of need.

Irwan, who was a mobile phone credit seller, first met Roni, a motorcycle taxi driver during a protest in front of a small Ahmadiyah mosque inside a residential in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta in November.

Irwan’s family rooted from Manis Lor village in Kuningan district, West Java, where around 2,000 followers of the Ahmadiyah faith live, making it the largest Ahmadi community in Indonesia. He followed his father who had been living in Jakarta since the 1970s after he graduated high school.

Mashuddin also once guarded an Ahmadiyah school in Parung, Bogor when it was attacked in 2008, and together with Tubagus stood guard when an Ahmadiyah orphanage in Tasikmalaya, also in West Java, was sealed by local authorities in December.

“I was with the same car as [Tubagus] Chandra and Diaz [Ferdiaz Muhammad who also survived the incident]. Chandra was driving, we arrived at Serang at 3 a.m. and picked up 5 more Ahmadis,” Mashuddin continued.

As they arrived, Mashuddin saw about 200 police officers standing by at both road ends of local Ahmadiyah cleric Ismail Suparman residence.

“I texted my parents so that they didn’t have to worry. The Police were here,” he said.

But then the wife of Cikeusik village head Inayah came in screaming, telling them to leave because thousands of people will come to slaughter them.

“Deden told her, don’t worry, we have pak Hasan here [Cikeusik police chief of crime unit],” he added.

The convoy went to rest in another room but was soon awaken by loud chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ or ‘God is great’, and ‘Ahmadiyah infidels’.

It was around 10.30 a.m.,when around 1,500 villagers descended to Ismail’s house. The rest can be seen from the videos that has been posted by various people to You Tube. Deden was seen to hit one of the defendants Idris Mahdani, 30, from Banyu Mundu village, Kadu Hejo subdistrict, 40 kilometers away from Cikeusik.

Idris was the one seen on the video with black leather jacket, leading the villagers while shouting “Out of the way Police! Infidels! Infidels!”

After he was hit by Deden, he retreated several steps back before taking out his machete and waved it on the air as the villagers pelted the Ahmadis with rocks.

Masihuddin said that at that time he went outside and started pelting the villagers with stones, but realizing that they were soon overwhelmed, he and a number of others tried to escape to the back of the house.

“But we were stuck in a knee-high mud at the paddy field. The drive to Cikeusik was taxing and we were exhausted,” he said.

The group parted, some ran towards a nearby jungle while some to the riverside. Irwan was already ahead of the group, when he climbed down the trench by the riverside and inched away from the mob. Marsihuddin followed him, but stumbled to the ground as the mob caught up with him.

“I had with me about Rp 2 million for food and accommodation, and my blackberry, they greedily took it. But it didn’t spare me from further beatings,” he added.

He also saw Roni who came back to tried to save Bebi who was kicked on the face before being hit with a rock. Bebi survived the attack. His jaw was displaced and until now he can only eat blended food through a straw. That heroic act was taken by the mob as a challenge and they began furiously hitting Roni.

“I saw Irwan slipped and fell to the river, in the meantime I had 10 men on top of me trying to hit me with sticks and stones and stabbed me with their machetes,” he said.

“They tried to stab me with a bamboo pole, I dodged, then I heard somebody said, ‘oh he knows martial arts’.”

Udin was dragged about 500 meter to Ismail’s house, on the way he was viciously beaten when they arrived in front of Parman’s house he saw somebody stabbed a bamboo pole on Roni’s body.

“They already stripped me and was about to cut my genitals, I shoved the man and shout ‘You guys have to have limits!’, another man hit me on the side but the impact also knocked the guy who tried to mutilate my genital,” he said.

Masihuddin said that he tried to focus, and keep calm, he controlled which muscle that he has to tighten to avoid fatal injuries, while protecting his head and neck.

“I turned on my side and let it take the beatings. I don’t want to give them my neck. Until now that part of my body went to sleep, as if a stroke,” he said.

A number of times he felt like his life is going to end when the machete slashed to close to head.

“The police thought I was dead, they threw me into the car just like that. But I gained consciousness and started to ask for water. I was extremely dehydrated,” he said.

The trip from Cikeusik to Malingping hospital, 10 kilometers away, took 1.5 hours and the Police only gave him a piece of shirt to stop the bleeding from a gash on his head.

“I met Deden in the hospital, he was holding his right hand, I saw Bebi vomiting blood, Ferdiaz put me on his lap and started giving me water, he was also injured,” he said.

The men were later moved to Serang hospital, which was another 6 hours drive, while Deden was immediately brought to Pertamina hospital in Jakarta. In Serang their stitches has to be removed since it was tainted by dirt, and has to be redone.

Irwan on the meantime was trying to stay afloat.

“I could barely swim, I was dragged by current as I tried to stay afloat, in the meantime the mob was still trying to hit me with rocks,” he said.

He had no idea how long he was under water, when he suddenly could breathe air again.

“At one point it’s all dark. But then I heard a voice calling me. It was Yadi,” he said.

Yadi swam against the current and drag him to the side.

Trauma

Although Irwan did not sustain any critical injuries, he is now afraid of water and refused to remember of the February attack.

“I am undergoing counseling for my trauma. My therapist said that I had to think of water as my savior. If the river current didn’t carry me away, I might be one of the casualties,” he said.

Masihuddin found him in raging moods whenever he saw police officers or men in white robes.

“Once I wanted to go to Senen, I passed the National Monument and at that time there was a demonstration on Libya and Ahmadiyah. All of a sudden I started shouting to the driver, ‘Just hit them! Hit them! Why should they make a fuss over other country when their own is still in a mess!’,” he said.

Luckily he was with his sister who apologized for him and told everyone that her brother has a mental illness.

“At other time I was in Citraland and saw a police officer, I went to him and screamed at him, ‘What are you doing here? You’re doing nothing! Just like in Cikeusik! Officers only watches and do nothing!’,” he continued.

Masihuddin also suffered from vertigo and severe headache, which made him pop 6 to 7 pills several times a day. He had an infection on his right eye when the mob tried to stab it with a bamboo pole, his hearing, he said, had also decreased and his vocal chord has just recovered.

“Previously I almost can’t talk,” he said.

He had to see various doctors every day, from neurologists, ear specialist, and eye specialist.

Fair Trial?

A video taken by a sect member showed the crowd of more than 1,000 people push police aside and storm a local Ahmadiyah leader's house shouting "infidel" and "Allahu akbar" (God is great).

After a brief exchange of rocks, the mob overpowered the defenders and set upon them with sticks and stones. One man was filmed being stoned and clubbed to death as he knelt on the ground half naked. The bodies were then mutilated.

Police officers fled the scene once the violence began, but returned later to mill among the mob as it destroyed the sect's property and continued to beat the corpses of the three male victims.

A cleric, Ujang Mohammed Arif, 52, is charged with masterminding the attack by inciting others to commit violence.

Arif sent another defendant, Endang bin Sidik, a phone text message days before the attack reading "Please mobilise ulemas (Muslim scholars), clerics and Koranic school students to besiege Ahmadis in Cikeusik (village)," prosecutors said.

Endang forwarded the message to 62 people and asked them to gather at his house and wear blue ribbons on the day of the assault.

“It’s a difficult trial we are going to face with. There’s a possibility that we are going to take the blame,” Masihuddin said, he is due to testify in court at about three weeks.

Last week chief of crime unit for Cikeusik police First Insp. Hasanudin testified for defendant Ujang Muhammad who allegedly rounded the youths from neighboring villages for the attack.

He was amongst the police officers who tried to coax Deden and the others to get out from the house.

“The people came half an hour after the negotiation, when [the Ahmadiyah people] knew that they were coming, they took out their spears and catapult,” he told the panel of judges presided by Rasminto.

In the trial Hasanudin said that the mob shoved their bare hands to the air while citing God is great.

“I just found out that there were victims after the clash subsided,” he said. He denied that he saw defendant Ujang Muhammad on the scene.

Another defendant Endang bin Sidik also testified last week for Ujang, saying that he only brought a book on Ahmadiyah and hadits.

“We came there to have a discussion, but turned out they started to threw us with rocks and catapult. We fought back with the rocks and wooden poles lying around the area,” he said.

He denied that Ujang was giving orders to the people.

“He stood 20 meters away from the house,” he said.

Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch Asia who uploaded the video hoped that it would be considered as key evidence.

“The video maker has been questioned by the police, and we are hoping that he could use the video as evidence,” he said.

He was aware that fundamentalist groups will not like the fact that the video is on the net for public consumption.

Hasril Hertanto, legal expert from the University of Indonesia: believes that it is on the hands of the prosecutors and the judges.

“Our Criminal Procedure Code [Kuhap] does not acknowledge video materials as evidence, but this was updated by article 5 of the Information and Electronics Transaction Law. However, prosecutors or lawyers are the ones who has to submit the video to the trial and ask for the judges’ permission to use it as court evidence,” Hasril explained.

The Code, which was issued in 1981, only recognizes witnesses and experts testimonies, paper and object evidences, and the judge’s conclusions derived from the testimonies and evidences.

“I believe in order to pursue the material truth [the judges] should get with the times, and are willing to accept the video as a court evidence,” he said.

Firdaus Mubarik from Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) feared that the threat for mistrial is so big, especially since not all major media are willing to covering it.

Together with several others they set up a twitter account @cikeusiktrial for live tweets during the trial and to provide the public with background information regarding the suspects and the event itself.


Endnote: To a lot of people's (people with their common sense and humanity intact anyway) dismay: in the end Deden was given a six-month prison term. Dani bin Misra, a 17-year-old, smashed a victim’s skull with a stone; was charged with manslaughter and got three months. Idris got convicted because of illegal possession of a machete and got five months and 15 days in jail. (see the discrepancy?)

Quoting Lin's op-ed piece:

In other words, murder — organized, premeditated and captured on video — is not much more of a crime than stealing a bunch of bananas. In Indonesia, it appears, you can get away with murder, as long as the killing is done in the name of religion.
Prosecutors actually recommended light sentences because they said Ahmadiyah members partly provoked the attack by being in the village and then compounded their error by filming and distributing videos of the attack. This is a bit like saying a woman is to blame for being raped because she wore a skirt.

I agree with one security analyst regarding the anti-shia gathering, on why now and why this theme, that it all has to do with the upcoming election. Find one enemy to wage war against and rally for alliance. Once you got an alliance big enough, and in fact becomes the majority, time to "sell-out". This guy couldn't be less obvious:

“We will support any candidate who wants to make an MOU to purge the Shiites from Indonesia," Muhammad Al Khaththath, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema and Congregation Forum (FUUI).

Should journalists be activists as well?

This is a piece I wrote after meeting with Nepali senior writer, editor and publisher Kandu Dixit in a discussion held by Japan Foundation in July 2012. The interview with Dixit reminded me of an other post by media critic and NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen.

Anyhow, the debate on journalistic objectivity is as old as..journalism itself, i guess. Dixit argued that journalists in developing countries could not afford being "completely neutral", just being the passive reporter and publish whatever the officials are saying.

The original piece is below, edited version can be found here.

To the 57-year old Nepalese writer, editor and publisher Kandu Dixit, journalism is never limited to reporting events as it is, for him it has to mean something, act as an agent of change.

"In Western journalism school, they teach that you would loose your credibility if you become an activist. My argument is that, it's better for your credibility if you have a more active role in finding solution to your society's problem," Kunda told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

Starting out his career as a microbiologist, Dixit's gradual shift to journalism might have more to do with his DNA. His mother, grandparents were writers and poets, Dixit had written for scientific journals at the same time he started writing for mainstream publications.

Eventually he was awarded with a Fulbright scholar to pursue journalism in Columbia University, before working for the BBC World Service at the UN Headquarters and later as Asia-Pacific director of news agency Inter Press Service, based in Manila.

Dixit returned to Nepal in 1997 after 10 years living abroad, a year later he co-founded Himal weekly magazine, and then in 2000 an english weekly tabloid Nepali Times.

"I want to come back to Nepal and be a journalist, try to change things and make democracy works," he said.

Nepal had always been an absolute monarchy mired with domestic conflicts and violence before finally declaring itself as a federal republic in 2008, making it the second youngest country after East Timor. In 1996, the communist party of Nepal (Maoist) had waged violent resistance against the royal parliamentary system causing a decade-long Civil War with more than 12,000 casualties.

But even after the war and a promise of democracy, the situation in Nepal is not improving, and this is where, according to Dixit, where media should take part.

"After the war, [it turns out the] political leaders who were elected were not accountable. We have revolutions but people who tried to change things became dictators who they replace, the same old story," he said.  "Media has to play a role in the reform and try to keep the revolution on track."

Dixit also viewed that media can prevent future wars by exposing injustice and promote inclusive agendas. "The seeds of conflicts are actually made during peace time: discrimination, exclusion, social injsutice, the rising gap between rich and poor, and intolerance," he continued.

On his book, Dateline Earth: Journalism as if the Planet Mattered

In 1997, Dixit had his first book published, a 185-page publication that not only looked into environmental journalism but also on how to hold on to the core values of journalism while being deeply involved and passionate for a cause.

Something he said that journalists in developing countries, such as Nepal and Indonesia, could not afford to ignore.

"The ["Western" journalism] rule was made by a society that already has a certain economic status, a history of democracy, and their freedom is not threatened, while our society is still struggling. We're still trying to make democracy work so we have to take much active role," Dixit said.

These values are what he tried to instill in both of his publications in Nepal.

"We believe in basic things like non-violence politics and tolerance and we're trying to protect that. We cant just [act like] we're just here to observe, you have to be involved and protecting that freedom otherwise there's no point," he continued.


And this is an extract from Rosen's post:

The once “safe” choice [we have no idea who is right] becomes the riskier option. That point is reached when enough people begin to mistrust viewlessness and demand to know what the writer thinks, even though they also know that they may not agree.

My JG days in review

I was thinking to look back and review some of the most-read articles I've ever written in 2012 like a friend of mine did for her blog but then considering my time at JG as a full-time news reporter is almost up, might just as well do a review of ALL articles I've written. Most read ones and a number of the most memorable ones but unnecessary popular.

First story
My first piece (and headline) for Jakarta Globe, was co-written with our health reporter Dessy Sagita:
Indonesian Government to Cut State Health Insurance

It was my first day and our desk editor put me in tandem with Gita and it was Abu Rizal Bakrie’s last day as the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare. I remembered waiting for Mr. chin-man to make his farewell speech at this small park inside the Ministry’s office with other journos and was taught my first lesson on being a journo: patience.

The news was that the government believed some 16 million people had managed to increase their income and therefore are no more eligible for Jamkesmas, the state’s health insurance.

I was a bit fazed on what Bakrie actually said during the press conference, I only remembered back at the office I was asked to call mbak Ratna from Indonesia Corruption Watch to hear what she has to say about it.

I remembered waiting on Lin until he finished editing the story before going home, which I still do for weeks and months to come. Always having trouble going to bed before I know that all my stories passed the last copy editor.


First story to pass 10,000 views
*drum roll*
Porn Star Miyabi's Movie Premieres In Jakarta
L-O-L


I forgot who gave me the honor of going to the screening of this ..this .. thing. I don’t even remember writing about it. But lo! my name was on the byline.. so.. hmm..

Last para: “A Jakarta Globe journalist who viewed the film said it appeared to be aimed at teenagers and had little positive to say about the movie.”

*double hmm*

Me vs FPI
Nowadays a mention of FPI in a news story is a warrant for high web hits. But two years ago almost everyone forgot what this organization was capable of. For me this story started it all:
Muslims Protest in Bekasi Over Statue Of Women and Desecration of Koran




Since then I’ve been paying a watchful eye on Bekasi, FPI, hardline groups, landed stories after stories on these so-called vigilantes and defenders of Islam, the growing religious tension/anxiety in the country and of course: terrorism.

I also remembered interviewing ‘ulamas’ and ‘kyais’, people who are supposed to be the beacon of morality, but shocked on how close-minded most of them are while I was still fresh from my return from Holland, which fares better in terms of respecting minority (and Islam was a minority there).

At that time not so many media are willing to report on the tension, or openly stated that there was a growing tension, except perhaps the Jakarta Post. I also noticed journos on field tend to take in what the ulamas/government officials words ‘as is’, very little dared to question their rhetorics of ‘religious tolerance’ and ‘human rights’.

There aren’t many reporters who are interested to see for themselves what was the condition like in the neighborhoods of the houses of worship that are in dispute. News reports were more likely a ‘hearsay’ piece giving more than necessary attention to those who were immediately accessible (spokesman of such and such religious group) rather than relevant (local residents, neighbors).

Sadly, nothing much has changed these past three years, if not, nothing has changed at all.



Most-read stuffs
Iko asked me once which of my writings that I felt most proud/satisfied of. I told him that I get satisfaction from writing stories that made me spill blood, sweat and tears just to get them, and stories that are overlooked.

This particular one was special --> How Corrupt Is Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Because I did everything on my own, the interviews, the research, going back and forth to the Supreme Audit Agency for the Ministry’s financial reports, poring over them, I almost felt like those investigative reporters. Almost.

It was quite rewarding as it garnered quite a lot of reads (15,086 views as of tonight). But the most-read cookies went to these two:

Indonesia's New Immigration Law Confuses One and All (25,645)
Muslim Groups Talk War Over ‘Christianization’ (15,698)

So there you go.

On second thought, will do a part 2 post on being a city reporter and writing series. 'Till then!
(All images courtesy of Google! Image :p #toolazytocreditonebyone)

story dump #1

________________________________________
From: Ulma Haryanto
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 7:16 PM
Subject: muchdi

Hello,

Today I'm off but here is a bit of additional Munir-related piece. I asked journalist Alam Burhanan on what was it like to interview Muchdi Purwopranjono back then since I couldnt reach Muchdi myself. I thought it was good for a refresher about the alleged mastermind who had been almost convicted. Alam was the one behind ANTV's investigative reporting program Telisik, the guy won a couple of awards for it. He's now working for VOA in DC, I had thought to include the interview yesterday but couldn't coz his response came late (time difference).

Additionally, I am attending this 12-day ASEAN journo training in Gran Mahakam starting Sunday.. participants r required to write something at the end of the training and I hope we can also run it on paper (kalo bagus sih :p).. but if u hv asean-related topics that u think r interesting pls let me know since we are also scheduled to interview Marty on Monday sept 17.


Ulma Haryanto


It might be years after the last time TV Producer Alam Burhanan met former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy Muchdi Purwopranjono in his prison cell, but he would never forget that day, nor that he wished Indonesia to forget about how the case of human rights activist Munir is far from resolved.

"It started when I had to meet with several [politicians] who are detained for corruption, and since these people gather together it gave me the chance to meet others, not only Muchdi but also Aulia Pohan, Urip Tri Gunawan, etc.," Alam told the Jakarta Globe in an email interview. Alam now lives in Maryland, United States and works for state-owned broadcast service Voice of America (VOA) in Washington DC.

Aulia is President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's in-law and former central bank governor who was jailed for graft while Urip is a senior prosecutor sentenced for receiving bribe money in 2008. Both, together with Muchdi, were once detained together at Kelapa Dua in Depok.

"I paid special attention to Muchdi at the time because of the seriousness of his indictment, it was also the first time for a general from BIN to be made a murder suspect," Alam continued.

In 2008, when Muchdi was declared suspect in the case, Alam was the executive producer of an investigative reporting show for private television network ANTV.

"It was hard to get to Muchdi," he said.

"It was a sensitive period [for him], to be a general who had to be jailed for a murder case that gained a lot of attention."

"From the beginning we already think that the prosecutors were not serious enough in building up his case, in addition to that the panel of judges was also reluctant to take the case seriously," said Al Araaf, director of human rights group Imparsial.

Munir was poisoned in September 2004 as he flew from Jakarta to Amsterdam. Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, a former Garuda Indonesia pilot, has been convicted of putting a fatal dose of arsenic into his drink.

Prosecutors have accused Muchdi of ordering the killing out of anger over Munir's criticisms of his leadership of the Army's Special Forces unit (Kopassus).

Alam said that he had talked to Muchdi several times before he finally agreed to be interviewed for his show.

But interviewing a former general with high position in Intelligence had its own challenges. Alam recalled one instance when Muchdi tried to "threaten" him when he disagree with where the show was going.

Muchdi was "chaotic", Alam said of one of the meetings. At that time Muchdi "summoned" him to his cell because he wanted to read the script before the show would be aired but Alam instead brought and old one.

"Independence of the press is protected by law so I have no obligation to show it to him, I told him the new one wasn't ready but he can review the previous script," Alam continued.

But moments after reading the first page Muchdi started shouting angrily... over the number of houses he owned.

"What is this?? How did you know I have two houses? I only have one, you are so tendentious!" Alam recalled.

Muchdi also further protested how the script mentioned him as the driving force behind Munir's assasination.

"He grew angrier when I took out a copy of the prosecutor's indictment demanding to know where I got it, in panic I replied that I got it from Kontras," he continued, referring to the rights group Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.

"Muchdi shouted angrily, 'So you are from Kontras?? I thought you are mine!'," Alam said.

"His face was shaking, then he said, 'I still have a million people outside! I still have money! Don't you think I cannot do anything from inside the prison!'," he continued.

"He said if we ever air Kontras, he will 'mark' me."

Alam admitted that he had feared for his life back then, but managed to keep going by reminding himself that what he did was a journalism work and that it was important not only for Indonesia but also garnered international attention.

"Maybe Muchdi wanted me to defend him and disregard data from other parties on the case. But to me, those who think Muchdi is Munir's killer is still needed, in the end of course we still air interviews with Kontras," he added.

Alam did not hear anymore from Muchdi even after the show was aired.

"As a part of the fight 'against forgetfulness' we should keep asking the question on the rest of the actors, who might already died or transferred to another country, the keys to unlock Munir's case are diminishing and harder to find," Alam said.

Only former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, was convicted for lacing Munir's drink with poison. "Intellectual" actors behind his actions were still largely untouched, including former BIN chief Hendropriyono and deputy As'ad Ali.

Leaked US diplomatic cables released last year by WikiLeaks mentioned on how top-level officials of BIN were involved in Munir's murder.

They mentioned how then-Chief of National Police Sutanto allegedly knew about the BIN involvement but was lacking evidence to implicate its officials and that Hendropriyono "chaired two meetings at which Munir's assassination was planned". The cables and a witness at those meetings told police that "only the time and method of the murder changed from the plans he heard discussed; original plans were to kill Munir in his office."

As'ad was also mentioned in court testimoney of signing a letter requesting Garuda to put Pollycarpus on the same flight as Munir.

"From the beginning prosecutors did a weak job with Muchdi's indictment, so it was no surprise that the court acquitted him," said Al Araf, program director of human rights group Imparsial.

"But [the President] still has two years left in his term to review the case, and we hope that he could stop wavering and start ordering for the case to be reviewed," he added.

#8TahunMunir

Living in Limbo: Stories From Puncak

I had always wondered why there were a lot of Middle-Eastern people and shops in Puncak area. I thought maybe it's the cool weather and yet relative closeness to Jakarta,..or maybe the girls..who knows..

It was just like any other day, I went to a press conference at LBH Jakarta who have just "inaugurated" 110 paralegals.

One of the people at LBH Jakarta asked me if I would like to meet with the asylum-seekers living in Puncak. I was like "Bingo!". I accepted immediately and we left for Puncak about a week later.

Little did I know, that the plight facing these asylum-seekers is a complicated one. Before rounding off my writing I became overwhelmed by the facts and stories that unfold in front of me.

It was difficult indeed to try to summarize everything in 1,500 words. The original version was 1,800-ish and I already had to discard about 30-40 percent of the materials. This is the link to the story, 1,500 words edited by the wonderful Hayat Indriyatno.

In the story only mentioned very little about the three families whom I saw that day, so I decided to write the rest here.

1. The Mazraehs

The Arabic Mazraeh (alternative spellings: Mazrae or Mazra/a) clan is pretty well-known in Iran to be politically active in the struggles for the Arab minority. For those who don't know, the majority race in Iran is Persian with Shia being the prominent denomination. Which is interesting, because apparently it was the Shia/Persians who are oppressing the Sunnis there. While here it's the other way around.

I met Amir and his family, who managed to fled to Indonesia via Dubai in 2010, in their rented 3-bedroom home in Cisarua area. We had to pay Rp 2,000 before entering the residential complex, I guess it's because we had come with a car. Others who went by motorbikes were not charged, which is weird anyway, because it's not a tourist area.

Amir's brother, Mahmoud Mazraeh made his way to UK as a political asylum in the 1990s and found the Ahwazi Arab People's Democratic Popular Front (AAPDF). Before that, two of his brothers were also executed.

The 54-year old however managed to maintain his calm, politely refusing to tell me the complete story of his escape, and referred me to his lawyers (people from LBH Jakarta) about it.

Amir has little understanding of English, without a translator my interview would had been in jeopardy if not for his 11-year old grandson, Fauzi, who is surprisingly fluent in both English and Indonesian.

"Ada masalah [There was a problem]," his grandson said, when I asked Amir of the reason why he fled.

Amir and his oldest son, Tohir, were subject to arrest and torture until in 2009 when they joined a demonstration protesting the election of Ahmadinejad, the threats increased. A week after he flew out of Iran, the government tried him in-absentia and sentenced him to 16 years.

Few weeks later Amir was joined by his wife, Tohir, his youngest daughter, Aminah and her two children.

Aminah is in late 20s or early 30s, and left to take care of her two children alone since her husband died in 2005 after being arrested and tortured.

Her eyes welled up when I asked what was it that she miss the most.

"My work, my city, my friends and my siblings," she said, adding that they have left two brothers and a sister in Iran.

"I want them to join us soon," she said.

The home of the Mazraeh has a small fish pond and a big stove for baking pita breads. Amir said they help the family kill time.

"My wife cooks and I fish, or play football with friends. Or read the Koran, I am more religious now," he said with a smirk.

As an asylum-seeker, none of these people are allowed to work, or get education.

Fauzi and his younger sister Anna, who is 8, preferred to go to an internet cafe, or watch television. Which is how they learn the languages.

I asked him if he like it here, he said, "No. Ngga suka."

Fauzi said that he keep the family in touch with other relatives via Facebook. He would upload pictures and send messages through it.

I learned from Amir that the Iranian Arabs are not allowed to speak their language, dress up like one, and other means of cultural expression.

2. Yunus' story

Yunus is the opposite of Amir, he is vibrant and fiery, recounting his tales of struggle in Ahwaz, Iran. He's been put under arrest, solitary confinement, but he also managed to flee with his wife and three children.

Like the Mazraeh kids Yunus' are also fluent in Indonesian. One girl, Sofia, 10, even told me that she wanted to learn English properly. Because the only education that they're receiving is a two hours session of English in a crowded class room per week.

"Banyak anak nakal," she said.

Yunus house is smaller than Amir's, and more open. I guess this is why the family has been having health complaints.

"It's too cold here for us," Yunus said.

At Yunus' house I began to notice that it was the second time of the day that we were offered instant coffee mix. (Later when we went to the third house, we were AGAIN offered with the same drink)

Yunus and his family

Rambutan came next, so I asked them if those were their favorites, they said yes.

"We love the fruits here, Mangoes, avocado, are expensive in Iran, but here no. I even like Durian," Yunus smiled.
Well isn't that a relief :)

3. The Mother and Her Daughters

The last family I visited are the Mazbans. Well actually the mother, Afwah, is married to Amir's older brother so their daughters are Mazraeh. But I don't want to create confusion, so.. :p

According to an officer from JRS who accompanied me, women and her children are prioritized. Which is why Afwah and her daughters decided to go on their own to Indonesia.

Afwah herself is a Persian, and her marriage had caused her trouble. Her family shunned on her and on the other hand she was not completely accepted by the Arabs in her neighborhood.

One of her daughters, Khadija, who is just two years younger than I am, was at one point arrested for six days after joining a demonstration, and refused to ever told her mother nor sisters on what happened.

To UNHCR she only attested that she had heard women screaming and raped, and that every day she was in fear aside from being deprived from food.

"My mother and my sister can't barely walk," the oldest daughter, Afika, told the JRS officer.

She said her mother has a knee and back problem and need to see a physiotherapist, while Khadija needs a crutch to be able to stand. Afika also said that her sister had had diarrhea for about a month when she first arrived.

"We don't like the clinics here, they're useless," Afika said.

Khadija and her mother

She spilled her heart out, on dealing with the cold, missing her children, and concerns about the health of her mother and sister over our third instant coffee for the day. Well, actually for me it's the fifth. I had one for breakfast and another one when we stopped at a stall before going to the Mazraehs.

Afika's hands were also never far from her praying beads, after the complaints she retorted praising to God because the lawyers of LBH Jakarta had helped them in their appeal to UNHCR.

The JRS officer promised her that they will take them to a good doctor soon but she needs to check with UNHCR and IOM for the funds.

So we bid our good byes, the day was getting late and all of us were hungry (we skipped lunch btw). I prayed for the families to leave this place soon and re-join their relatives.


Spending time with them surely felt other-worldly and wonderful at the same time. As they recounted their stories, I could picture one by one the scenes from Persepolis.

There was this one sentence from Mayong, one of the public lawyers at LBH Jakarta, that struck me:

"A minority in one place will become the oppressor in another place when they are the majority. Suppressions should not be a reason to oppress others, but to be better."

On Long-Form Journalism

I've been a subscriber to Longreads and Longform for a few months now and they (actually I knew longreads first. I forgot how though :s) introduced me to what they call as 'long form' journalism.

And what is a long-form journalism?
I would safely assume that they are journalistic pieces, usually written in narrative style and are typically longer than 2,000 words.. Or take more than 5 minutes to read.

At first I thought long reads are only good for print, since the common conception during pre-tablet era is that it's tiring to read exhaustively via an electronic screen. But then, it's either my eyes are used to it, or the way devices of today are engineered, I am less bothered reading long stuffs.

This article over at Forbes said that it's just not me, but the overall readership for long pieces IS increasing, despite researchers' cries that the society now has a shorter attention span. I mean, now in the weekends I realize that I tend to enjoy my time reading those longer pieces that are delivered to me via email (NOT twitter. I also find that avoiding twitter during my day off is sooo relaxing :D). Or yeah, burying myself in a good book.

And then I tried to look at JG's own so-called long pieces. Umm I dunno if this is super secret but I guess people should already figure it out. Newspapers won't survive for long, for maybe of course in developing countries like Indonesia where the majority of people still reads from paper. As cited by the other English paper households with tablet computers only constituted of two percent.

True.. smartphone owners are now at like 78 percent but most of the people only use it to log in to their facebook. (Interesting read: For Many Indonesians, ‘Facebook’ Is the Only Internet)

In the beginning, JG wanted to differentiate the "paper" with "web". So we want to churn news features, longer pieces that is timeless, more analytic and in-depth (for the daily news) to be published on the paper so that people still want to read it and find it relevant even though the hard news are already up (or 'broken') on online news sites and TV stations.

But who am I kidding.. The people who read our stuffs mostly do it online or mobile. So why shun away from it? It was also revealed to me the other day when I wrote this 2,100-something piece that looked damn intimidating on paper (will put up the picture here later). But online, it doesn't scare you that much. In fact I'm happy to say that until today it has more than 10,000 hits.
UPDATE: Here it is

Long-form journalism is not that popular yet in Indonesia. Newspapers usually have the reporters divide their stories to a number of 'series', and I would say only Tempo magazine has worth-reading long form pieces.

People here are still enjoying the short burst of info splashed on them via Twitter. Besides, with only 14 years of our so-called 'freedom of press', Indonesian journalism is still taking shape and I'm glad that I'm a part of it :)

Corruption and Me

This post is some sort of a prequel to this piece I wrote in JG back in November.

I had to renew my passport, so i asked a fellow reporter where to go if she wants to renew hers. She gave me a number of an official at one of the immigration offices in Jakarta and said that the man was "assigned" by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to take care of passports for reporters.

"Interesting," I thought. I wasn't aware that reporters have a special window at Indonesian immigration offices.

The next day i called this person and told him that I need to renew my passport, he then told me to go to another person, Bobby (not his real name), because turned out that he had been recently transferred to an island outside Java.

So i went to the Immigration office to see Bobby. I passed through the door that has a "Staff Only" sign on top of it. I asked around for Bobby, a young man in his 30s sitting quite in the middle of the room. From that brief glimpse I assume Bobby is the guy the others go to for signatures.

I told him that I am a reporter and the previous immigration guy told me to see him. Bobby nodded, told me to fill in some forms, ordered me to give him copies of my IDs, including my press card.

Afterwards he told me to come back an hour later to get my photo taken and pay for administration.

One hour passed, I came back and Bobby gave me a piece of paper that shows me how much I have to pay. What struck me is this handwriting (presumably Bobby's) on that piece of paper: "Press, please help".

At that point I felt something nudging my conscience. The last time I heard the phrase "Please help" was during the hearing of Southeast Asian Games graft scandal. Witnesses from local government testified that the Secretary of the Sports and Youth Ministry, who has already been convicted, told them, "Please help this company." Referring to a certain private contractor.

I seek console to the fact that even with the supposedly "powerful phrase" I still have to wait for several hours before my passport interview and photograph. Sitting in the waiting room I thought to myself, "Hey I'm just like anybody else here."

When that's done I asked the official who took my photo when my passport would be ready.

He said, "Oh, that you have to ask the person who helped you. There must be a person downstairs that assisted you, right?"

So I went to see Bobby again and he told me to come back a couple of days later.

To me, this whole "help" and "assistance" thing could only lead to one logical response, that I have to "give back".

So I frantically asked a number of reporters from different media. From the most distinguished one I got the reply: "We do give gifts to the officials who helped us. Not money, mind you. Gifts, like toys for his kid, or cakes."

I also recently knew that this distinguished media also bribe officials in order to get their hands on certain "classified" documents :D

Anyways, on the supposed day that my passport is ready, I decided to get Bobby (and his friends) some "gifts". So I went to a supermarket near my house and bought two bottles of sweet syrup and a big tin of assorted crackers coz hey, it was almost Lebaran. A glass of sweet drink and crackers for Lebaran is a perfect companion!

Once again I went through the doors that said "Staff Only" and found Bobby. He told another officer to get my passport from a stash of others belonging to fellow reporters, police officers and of course, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials.

After I signed a proof of receipt and Bobby handed me my passport, I gestured him to the plastic bag I've been carrying around. The one filled with sweet stuffs for lebaran.

What I didn't expect was his response:

"Hey, you know that we're not allowed to receive anything."

In just that split-second I see myself in the defendant's chair, admitting to the honorable panel of judges that I have given Bobby two bottles of sweet syrup and a tin of assorted crackers for helping me get my new passport :s

So yeah, there I stand in the middle of the Immigration office's bustle and occasional curious glances from visitors, extending my hand awkwardly towards this public servant who is looking up at me from behind his desk and stacks of documents.

I gasped for words and could only muttered something that sounds like, "It's for Lebaran".

Bobby accepted the bag, I smiled lopsidedly, shook his hands, and walked away, promising myself that I would use the regular person's way next time. Please remind me in 2016.

Anti-corruption ramblings

Being a KPK/legal reporter comes with its own ups and downs. The up-side, I am on the front line of national-scale scandals such as Democrat party dirts incl SEA Games graft, travel check hearings that involved senior national bank official and a missing businesswoman, and what I think also important is the KPK leaders selection committee.

So far I also like my fellow reporters here, most of them are sharp and share an idealism that they are on KPK's side on the fight against corruption.

The down-side, I miss making stories on people, on communities. It's really tiring, dealing with thick-skinned corrupt politicians and lawmakers who siphoned millions of Rupiah from the state budget and use it like it was theirs.

I also miss writing stories that are my own. Here reporters write the same stories, though in different angles. When I was covering for the city I work at my own pace covering stories on my own (or my editor's) decision.

But yeah, I guess it's never wrong to learn new stuffs. It's also a good experience for me to cover the KPK, our antigraft superbody and learn about the important yet heavy task they have.

It is worrisome that even more than a decade after reform, our politicians and civil servants does not seem to change.

KPK's current leadership is going to end in December, and the selection committee, even though they did a good job by selecting Busyro to head the KPK, there is a lot of reason to be wary of the process.

As with SBY, good thing doesnt come twice. He might be applauded during his first term but man, his second term sucked bad. And with the highly political cases KPK is now dealing, there will be those who are trying to weaken KPK from the inside.

The committee had to come up with at least 8 names for the new leader. KPK leaders consist of 1 chairman and 4 deputy chairmen, the rule is that in the end the House will choose from 2 names for each position. a case is on going at the Constitutional Court whether Busyro can stay for another 3 years or not..

I wonder who are going to try the candidacy, or if the selection committee would come up with names with superhuman integrity, and the smarts, to tackle with this country's rampant corruption.

on recent issues and such..

I'm going to use the idle hours on my first day at the Corruption Eradication Commission (aka KPK) to blog. Yay me!

so i'm waiting for this meeting between KPK and seven NGOs including Transparency International Indonesia and the Indonesia Corruption Watch, who are going to push the Commission to investigate graft allegations regarding the construction plan of a new office building for the House of Representative. (yes i'll be covering KPK and anti-corruption courts after more than a year at the Jakarta desk).

Two days ago the House opened the tender but it was quickly followed by criticisms since apparently, the winner, a state-owned company, was already chosen.

The tender was advertised in a local newspaper on Sunday, inviting contractors to bid on individual packets in the Rp 1.2 trillion ($136.8 million) project.

And even though members of the House were supposed to be representatives of the public, they made little discretion on the details of the new office and the process of the planning itself.

In the meantime I entertain myself by pointing out the grammar mistakes in Tomy Winata's response to the Sydney Morning Herald on WikiLeaks' allegations that he had been channeling funds to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

By the way some thirsty-for-fame lawyer, Habibburahman, is attempting to sue the papers $1 million for ruining "the pride of a nation because what they have done has given [Indonesia] a reputation of a corrupt country", the same guy also planning to submit a judicial review request of a gubernatorial decree banning in-door smoking in Jakarta to the Supreme Court.

They are also holding a press conference today alleging the government for ignoring the welfare of clove-cigarette workers over public health. (!!)

killed articles goes to blog heaven (and so does cropped ones :p)

Aside from my interview with the only female judge at the Constitutional Court, Maria Farida Indarti (hv been promising myself that I would rewrite the interview as soon as I got the willingness), a feature on how religious conflicts started to sprung up in Jakarta's outskirts, I should add this last one on the list of my favorite pieces :D

I have a few reasons:
1. It was a very comprehensive research report and there are a LOT of interesting facts on how local radical organizations in greater Jakarta and West Java came into being.
2. I think I was the only one who use that angle *smug*

But yeah, the original was 885 words and edited version was 657.

I'm gonna put the cropped part here (unedited), because to me it was interesting :p

Political ambitions

Bonar mentioned that the feeling of alienation and social frustration of the elites of these organizations also contributed to radical actions.

"Chep from GARIS once allied with Yusril Ihza Mahendra from PBB. But he was disappointed at Yusril when he was elected as justice and human rights ministry and forgot about their original agenda, which was implementing sharia," he said.

Ismail Hasani also added that even though FPI does not actively involved in political negotiations, Habib Rizieq were known to have established political deals.

"He once wanted to make his own party, labeled it Islamic Revolution Party," he said.

Chairman of FPI Jakarta Habib Salim bin Umar Alatas told the Globe that FPI does not support any particular political party.

"However, we are open for discussions. People can sit down with us, and we will provide candidates with inputs," he said.

According to Setara's report, during the 2009 elections, FUI and FPI had stated their open support for Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto for a promise that the pair would disband Ahmadiyah once they were elected. (personal note: one more reason to make me feel less guilty for voting for SBY :p)

This was also confirmed by Habib Salim.

"We supported [Jusuf] because there was a commitment between us. We would support whomever if they committed to disband cults and uphold [Islamic] law," he continued.


Sekian and Happy Holidays! :)

how to write a tragedy..

April 13, 2010

Arientha Primanita

After a day of protests against public order officers trying to oust villagers in Lebak Sari, Tangerang city officials temporarily postponed the eviction. (Antara Photo/Ismar Patrizki)

Chinese Indonesian Community Clashes With City Officers in Tangerang Eviction Melee

At least 14 people were hurt when a protest against government evictions in Tangerang turned violent, with public order officers hitting and dragging demonstrators trying to prevent some 1,000 people in the village of Lebak Sari from being moved out of an area the community has occupied for many generations.

The residents are descended from Chinese laborers brought to the area by Dutch colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the local administration claims the land, and has been trying to evict the community since last year.

The eviction plan affects 350 families, totaling 1,007 people. Residents received formal notification from the administration that the eviction was slated for Tuesday, and had been standing guard in front of their homes since 6 a.m.

“The city administration said they want to use the area for green spaces. The same families have been here for centuries,” said Edy Halomoan Gurning, an advocate from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta).

Though families of the residents have lived at Lebak Sari in Neglasari for centuries, many still do not posses government-issued identification cards.

“They have to undergo complicated administration procedures to have ID cards or any other documents, including birth certificates or marriage certificates,” Edy said. 

I'm going there later today n am supposed to write a follow-up, more human/dramatic side of the story. I really have no idea what to expect.

I want to be angry / cry / stand with them at the barricade! but thats not why i was there on the first place.. *sigh*

I've seen news of people getting evicted. The city is over its limit and starts to shove out its weakest: the poor, the uneducated, the marginalized..
Why so many evictions? i'd like to blame those environmentalist who keeps on demanding for more open green spaces.
or those city planners who would like to solve the traffic jams and replace crowded shanties with pillars for MRT and monorail..

1,007 people is not a small figure. it's not something u can easily ignore.

what am i going to ask? are you sad the city does not want to acknowledge you as its inhabitant?

what am i going to say to the governor next time i see him? "hey, great job with the evictions!"?

article taken from here