The Jakarta Globe

Disband Ahmadiyah or Else, Hard-Liners Warn

The Jakarta Globe


More than 1,000 Islamic hard-liners gathered at an anti-Ahmadiyah rally in Jakarta on Friday, issuing fresh threats to topple the government if officials did not disband the minority Muslim sect.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which organized the rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, claimed Ahmadis wanted all other Muslims dead, “so they must be eliminated first.”

The protesters also called President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a banci , or transvestite, saying he was a coward for not dissolving the sect, which has been deemed deviant by mainstream Muslims for its divergent views on Islamic prophets.

Awid Mashuri, deputy secretary general of the FPI, demanded that the government “stand for us instead of for Ahmadiyah.”

“[The president] should act faster on this,” he said. “If he keeps silent, we’ll assume that he supports the existence of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia, and that’s a humiliation to Islam, so if it happens, we demand [he] resign.”

His call prompted the crowd to shout: “We want an Islamic revolution!”

In Makassar, FPI chairman Habib Riziq in his Friday sermon said he would exhaust all means to dismantle Ahmadiyah.

“In the name of Allah, I swear that until the last drop of my blood, whatever the risks, Ahmadiyah must not exist in Indonesia,” he said.

In Jakarta, protesters marched to the office of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which they accused of “violating Islam” by calling for the protection of Ahmadis.

Misbakhul Hanan, an FPI member, said a much bigger rally would be held on March 1.

“All Muslims will join us, we’ll stay all night in front of the State Palace until [Yudhoyono] issues the order to disband Ahmadiyah,” he said. “That’s his deadline. If he misses it, the revolution that took place in Egypt will happen in Indonesia too.”

However, the government brushed off the threats, with Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi saying he had built a rapport with the FPI.

“I feel this brotherly bond with Habib and [FPI spokesman] Munarman,” he said. “I’ve been good acquaintances with Munarman since I was at the LBH [Legal Aid Foundation] with him.”

But Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party did not take the threats lightly, with lawmaker Ramadhan Pohan accusing the FPI of abusing freedom of speech.

He called on the police to respond to the threats seriously and said the FPI was damaging the authority of the state.

Additional reporting by Camelia Pasandaran & Markus Sihaloho

It’s Curtains for Foreign Films, Warns Cinema 21

The Jakarta Globe


Importation of foreign films into Indonesia has been halted and will only resume if the government revokes a new levy on imported films, the spokesman of 21 Cineplex has warned.

Noorca Masardi told the Jakarta Globe that 21, Indonesia’s largest movie theater chain with 500 screens, would only continue to screen foreign films that were already showing.

“[After this], we will not be able to screen any more imported films until the customs department changes its policy on film distribution in Indonesia,” he said, adding that this applies not only to movies from the United States but also Europe and Asia.

The Motion Picture Association on Thursday told journalists at a preview for “Black Swan” that the Oscar-nominated movie was likely the last foreign offering it would bring into this country because of the new levy on imported film distribution.

Noorca was quoted in other news portals as explaining that imported films already had to pay a 23.75 percent excise duty, a 10 percent tax to the central government and another 10-15 percent of the profit from ticket sales to regional governments. The new tax on distribution, he said, was also as much as 23.75 percent.

“There is no similar rule in any other country,” he later told the Globe.

Government officials involved in the matter have repeatedly declined to provide details of the new levy, saying only that talks were ongoing.

Noorca warned of the effect the policy would have has on the nation’s theaters and viewers.

“Every year, cinemas screen 50 to 80 local titles and 100 to 150 foreign titles. If the government does not revoke this new policy, it will kill the cinema industry in Indonesia,” he said. “If no solution is found, Indonesian cinemas will close down one by one.”

Indonesia’s film industry has suffered a downturn in recent years. In 2009, six local films sold more than a million tickets each at the box office. In 2010, only one movie broke the million mark.

Last year, 81 Indonesian films had cinema releases, slightly down from 83 films in 2009, although a significant decline from 91 big-screen releases in 2008.

Members of the MPA include some of the biggest studios in the United States, including Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Hundreds of Migrant Workers Repatriated From Saudi Arabia

The Jakarta Globe


Hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers who have been forced to live under a bridge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, arrived in Jakarta on Friday morning.

Rosyandi Monzier, spokesman for the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), said 336 Indonesians arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 10:20 a.m.

The group comprised 302 migrant workers, 15 children and 19 infants.

The Indonesian government had paid for the flights and would pay for the workers to return to their home villages throughout Indonesia.

Two of the returning workers spoken to by the Jakarta Globe spoke positively of their experiences in Saudi Arabia.

Zaenab, 34, from Sumedang, said she was happy to be home but wanted to return to Saudi Arabia.

“I earned 800 riyals [Rp 1.9 million] per month and it was a lot of money. I was lucky to have a good employer, therefore I want to go back to Jeddah,” Zaenab said.

She said if her employers were not good people, she would not have worked for them for 2 years and 4 months.

Asked how she ended up living under the infamous bridge, Zaenab said she regularly sent her money home to her family and did not have enough cash to return home once her contract ended.

Halimah, 50, from Situbondo, had a similar story but unlike Zaenab said she did not want to return to the desert kingdom.

“I think it’s time for me to rest after 5 years of hard work in Jeddah to send my children to University,” Halimah said.

“The 5 years were a good experience: I earned 1200 real per month; my children have been going to university. What would I look for next? I am too tired to work as a cleaning lady in Saudi,” she said.

“I miss my family and I want to be with them,” she added.

No Hard Feelings After Life Under Saudi Bridge

The Jakarta Globe

Even after being forced to live under a bridge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, some Indonesian workers repatriated by the government on Friday said their experience hadn’t been all bad.


Zaenab, 34, from Sumedang in West Java, said she was happy to be home but still had plans to return to Saudi Arabia.

“I earned 800 riyals [$213] a month and it was a lot of money,” she said. “I was lucky to have a good employer.”

Zaenab ended up living under the bridge because she sent all her money home and had none left when her 28-month contract expired.

She was one of 336 Indonesian workers repatriated by the government on Friday — the second batch this week.

Hundreds of Indonesian workers were found to have been living under Kandara bridge in Jeddah after overstaying their visas and encountering problems related to their employment contracts.

The Indonesian government paid for the workers’ flights and the remainder of the trip back to their respective hometowns.

Another worker, Halimah, 50, said she had no plans to return to Saudi Arabia, but not because of any bad experiences she had there.

“I think it’s time for me to rest,” she said.

“The five years were a good experience. I earned 1,200 riyals a month, and my children have been going to university. I am now tired of working as a cleaning lady. I miss my family and I want to be with them.”

Anis Hidayah, director of Migrant Care, reminded the government that the work of solving the problem was not finished yet.

“It is easy to bring them back home, but will [the government] investigate the reason why they were under the bridge in the first place?” she asked.

FPI Threatens to Oust SBY if He Doesn’t Disband Ahmadiyah

The Jakarta Globe

About 500 people at an anti-Ahmadiyah rally led by the Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Friday demanded the government disband the controversial sect, or else they will attempt to oust the president.


FPI clerics at the rally called on Indonesian Muslims to join their ranks against the Ahmadis.
“Ahmadiyah teachings say that non-Ahmadis must be killed, so they must be eliminated first,” Mishabhul Anam from FPI told the crowd.
Another orator accused the Ahmadis of being the cause of riots. “Therefore, to stop the riots they must be disbanded,” he said.
Awid Mashuri, the deputy secretary general of FPI, said there was no other option but for the government to disband Ahmadiyah.
“There is no other choice,” he said. “Government officials, most of whom are Muslim, must stand for us instead of for the Ahmadiyah. There is already a joint ministerial decree on the Ahmadiyah, the president only needs to turn it into a presidential decree.”
The protesters called President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono “banci,” which literally translates to transvestite, saying he was a coward for not disbanding Ahmadiyah.
Therefore, Awid said if the government does not disband the sect right away, they will force the president to step down.
“Ahmadiyah is a Western representation in Indonesia, which is our enemy,” Awid said.
He also accused the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) of “violating Islam” for protecting the Ahmadiyah.
The Islamic People’s Forum (FUI) leader, Muhammad Al Khaththat, said he demanded the government to take a number of actions.
“The first and foremost is SBY (Yudhoyono) must issue a decree to disband Ahmadiyah and arrest Abdul Basith, the leader of Ahmadiyah followers in Indonesia,” he said.
The rally was also seen as opportunity by some people to make money by selling books and tabloids related to Ahmadiyah.
A man was seen carrying a stack of books titled “Why I Left Ahmadiyah,” and it was sold for Rp 65,000 a piece.
A boy was also seen selling the “Suara Islam (“Islamic Voice”) tabloid, featuring FPI leader Habib Rizieq on the front page and the quote “Disband Ahmadiyah or SBY Steps Down.” The price of the tabloid is Rp 6,000 a piece but most people who bought it paid Rp 10,000.
“Keep the change, it’s my donation,” they said.
The rally is ongoing.


With reports from Beritasatu

Cinemas Face Threat of US Movie Boycott

The Jakarta Globe

Cinema screens across the country may soon have little to show except local movies if a new threat by American film producers to boycott exports to Indonesia is carried out.


The warning has come from the Motion Picture Association, the international counterpart of the Motion Picture Association of America, which has apparently been angered by a proposed levy slapped on imported films.

Freelance film reviewer Bobby Batara told the Jakarta Globe that Frank Rittman, MPA’s vice president for the Asia Pacific, aired the warning after a preview screening for journalists on Thursday of the Oscar-nominated US film “Black Swan.”

Bobby, who attended the event, said Rittman had complained about a new tax that would soon be applied by Indonesia’s customs office.

Rittman was quoted by a number of journalists at the screening as saying that the new government regulation on film importation could force big American studios to stop sending movies to Indonesian cinemas.

MPA representatives could not be reached for confirmation.

Titis Sapto Raharjo, editor in chief of Flick Online Magazine, a film review site, was also at the screening and said the rumor was that the government planned to impose a levy of 43 cents per meter of film imported.

Government officials involved in the matter declined to confirm the figure, saying only that talks were still ongoing.

Syamsul Lussa, a representative from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said he did not want to comment because the levy had not been finalized yet. “We will discuss it with the tax and customs directorate as there is a high demand for imported films in Indonesia,” he told the Globe.

Bambang Permadi Brodjonegoro, head of fiscal policy at the Ministry of Finance, said the details had not been finalized because negotiations with the MPA were still ongoing.

“I can’t provide any details until it has been discussed at the fiscal policy body. Please wait until next week,” he said in a message to the Globe. “It’s better to wait until after we have met with [officials from] customs and duties.”

Titis criticized the MPA for bringing up the issue before talks had been completed. “This is an internal discussion between the government and the MPA,” he said. “Therefore, it is very important that Frank not bring this case up to the public.”

Nauval Yazid, manager of the annual Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest), said if the threat were carried out, it would deal a significant blow to cinemas and filmgoers across the country.

“Stopping film exports to Indonesia would affect many people,” he said. “Besides, the Indonesian film industry is grappling with piracy, which cannot be stopped. It’s very important that the MPA discuss and resolve this problem with customs.”

Members of the MPA include some of the biggest studios in the United States, including Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Indonesia’s film industry has suffered a downturn in recent years. In 2009, six local films sold more than a million tickets each at the box office. In 2010, only one movie broke the million mark.

Last year, 81 Indonesian films had cinema releases, slightly down from 83 films in 2009, although a significant decline from 91 big-screen releases in 2008.

Railway Squatters Ordered to Go

The Jakarta Globe

Squatters living beneath an elevated railway track in Central Jakarta have pleaded with state railway operator Kereta Api to delay its eviction plan to give them time to find new lodgings.


KA has announced a March 8 deadline to raze all 800 homes built beneath the section of track running from Sawah Besar Station in Central Jakarta to Kota Station in West Jakarta.

None of the residents affected by the order will be compensated because their homes are built on state-owned land.

Rumiyati, a mother of two who lives beneath the tracks in Kebon Kelapa, Central Jakarta, and also rents out boarding rooms there, has called on KA to put off the eviction until the end of the school year.

“I wouldn’t mind having to move out because I’ve known all along that this would eventually happen,” she told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

“However, I need time because I have kids and they’re still going to school. Finding another place isn’t easy or free. That’s why the March 8 deadline seems impossible. It’d make it easier if the government was compensating us, but they’re not.”

She added she was reluctant to transfer her children to another school because of the disruption and the additional expenses.

“It’d be fine if we were the kind of people with millions of rupiah in our pockets, but we’re not,” said Rumiyati, who is originally from Central Java. “We moved here because we wanted our kids to have a good education. So all we ask is that we be allowed to stay until the school holidays.”

Ita Ludiana, 23, said she had moved to Kebon Kelapa from Bogor because she believed she could earn more money in the capital.

She said she rented one of the illegal lodgings for Rp 600,000 ($70) a month but would not mind having to move.

“We don’t own the place so we have nothing to lose by moving out,” she said. “However, we can’t simply move someplace else. Finding lodgings near here at this kind of price is difficult, so we want the government to give us more time to move out.”

Yudhi Permada, a motorcycle taxi driver who has lived beneath the tracks for more than 15 years, said he also had no objections and was thankful to have been allowed to stay as long he had.

“Why would I protest against the eviction?” he asked. “It’s the government’s land. I don’t own it and I know it’s not right to live beneath the elevated railway track because it’s dangerous, so the government is in the right.”

The only reason he lived there, he said, was because the Rp 250,000 a month rent was affordable for him and his family.

Officials from KA and the Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) visited the area on Thursday to serve notice to the squatters about the upcoming eviction.

Mateta Rizalulhaq, a spokesman for KA, said the squatters had been informed of the plan at the beginning of the month. “Today we’ve come to remind them in person to prepare to move out,” he said.

“We can’t accept their request to delay the eviction because we don’t want any complications to arise during that period.”

He added most of the residents were amenable to the move. “Just a few days ago we had a discussion with the squatters’ representatives, and they thanked us for letting them live there for many years without cracking down on them,” he said.

Mateta said KA would give the squatters free train tickets to their hometowns.

He said the main reason for the eviction was to improve safety along the train tracks.

He cited a fire last month at a shack beneath the elevated track in Tamansari, West Jakarta, that melted cables controlling railway signals and disrupted the train schedule for a week.

“The priority is to curb the illegal dwellings near Kota Station, which is the train safety control center,” he said. “We want to manage the area beneath the tracks and safeguard the signal system for the trains.”

Duck-Stealing Trial Ruffling Legal Feathers

The Jakarta Globe

Bekasi. Waiting anxiously for a court hearing on Wednesday, Irpan Fakhruroji and Iyan Sanjaya could barely answer when asked why they were facing a charge that could see them spend up to seven years in jail.


Prosecutors accuse Iyan of stealing a duck to sell it off for gas money. Police named Irpan an accomplice.

The boys, both 18 years old, have been charged with violating Criminal Code Article 363 on petty theft, which carries a maximum of seven years.

Small and seemingly frivolous cases like these have been flooding court dockets in recent years, prompting mixed reactions from legal experts.

Some say these petty cases are not worth judges’ time or effort, and are best settled out of court. Others say handling such cases — no matter how lowly — is necessary to the efficient functioning of the legal system.

In a hearing last week, Irpan angrily demanded that judges release him immediately not only because he was innocent, but because he had finals exams.

But on Wednesday, the defendants found they had to stew in distress for a while longer.

After a three-hour wait in the courtroom, the Bekasi District Court was forced to adjourn since Irpan and Iyan’s court-appointed lawyers failed to show up.

Roland, a prosecutor, barred the teenagers from speaking to anyone outside the courtroom, for fear that sympathetic people might help them escape.

“Nobody has bothered to show up. So I am responsible for them,” Roland said on Wednesday. “I just do not want to be blamed for anything should these two try to escape from here.”

However, Andi Hamzah, a law professor from Trisakti University, said the prosecutor’s office should not have brought such a case to trial.

“For cases with such small value, the prosecutors can easily dismiss the case by simply demanding, for example, compensation from the defendant’s family, [in behalf of] the victim,” he said.

“Most of the prosecutors here do not understand the system,” Andi said. “In Holland, for instance, 60 percent of cases can be handled out of court.”

Martua Batubara, spokesman for the Justice Ministry, said they recently formed a forum for courts, prosecutors’ offices and the police to consult on how best to handle such cases.

“The forum aims for justice restoration including finding alternatives for such crimes,” he said. “The forum also accommodates ideas on whether the Criminal Code should be revised and includes clauses on light crimes, including methods of punishment such as social work.”

But Mohammad Irvan Olii, a criminologist, said such decisions were not so simple to make.

“Some victims believe that pursuing the case legally is the easiest way to satisfy their sense of justice,” Irvan said.

Besides the victims, he said, people also needed to consider the police officers, who are racing to meet quotas on crimes solved.

“The police have a professional target that they need to meet. Therefore processing such small cases is easier, and ends quicker,” Irvan said.

Bambang Widodo Umar, a lecturer on police education, suggested that such cases should be dealt under hukum adat , or traditional laws practiced in some provinces to resolve disputes.

He cited the Bali’s Pecalang, or village police officers, who resolve petty crimes aside from providing security.

“If there is a problem and we are contacted, we will try our best to resolve the issue without bringing it to the police,” said I Ketut Bagia, a chief of the Pecalang in Ubud, a town in central Bali.

FPI Leader Fires Up Court With Anti-Christian Screed

The Jakarta Globe

In a fiery speech in court that moved some to tears, a suspended Islamic Defenders Front leader on trial for inciting attacks against a Christian group in Bekasi continued to issue threats against church leaders on Monday.


Murhali Barda, a former chapter leader of the hard-line group, also known as the FPI, warned the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) against holding prayers in Bekasi, a predominantly Muslim district in West Java.

He was suspended from the Islamic organization after his arrest in September.

“There are two messages I mean to send off to the HKBP. Do not repeat the same mistake again. Do not be stupid sheep wandering into the same yard after being asked to leave,” Murhali said, reading from a prepared defense statement at the Bekasi District Court.

“If you do not listen, do not blame the owner of that yard if he forces you out by throwing stones at you or beating you with a block of wood,” Murhali said.

The defendant is accused of inciting an attack against two HKBP leaders in Ciketing village on Sept. 12 through his anti-Christian statements on radio, text messages and his personal Facebook page.

Twelve others were brought to court in separate trials for the assault, which saw Asia Sihombing stabbed and the Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak beaten.

One of the suspects, Supriyanto, admitted in court that he had been inspired to violence by Murhali’s Facebook postings.

On Monday, Murhali denied spreading messages of hate through the social networking site, but described the 13 men on trial — including himself — as icons of “anti-Christianization.”

“Don’t you know Jesus had [only] 12 disciples? There are 13 of us,” he said.

“There will be 313 mujahids [holy warriors] who will be ready to fight against you. All we want is for [the HKBP] to respect us. We will not bother you if you do not bother us,” he added.

“I am not a crazy person. I am not going to blacken my [reputation] by doing something stupid [like inciting people to violence],” he said. “All I did was just an attempt to prevent efforts to Christianize people in Bekasi.”

The defendant also accused prosecutors of “manipulating the case” and twisting facts.

He ended his statement with a plea to judges “not to issue the wrong decision” in the case.

Murhali’s speech, peppered with verses from the Koran, brought many in the courtroom to tears, including his mother, his supporters and at least two police officers.

His inflammatory statements on Monday were a complete turnaround from his display in a hearing last month, when he stunned judges and the gallery by bursting into tears and advocating social harmony.

“We have to maintain harmony in society. We would not have bothered the other group if only the other group had not bothered us. All we want is to live our lives in peace,” he had said tearfully.

Prosecutors have sought a six-month jail term for Murhali for violating Criminal Code Article 335 on unpleasant conduct. He escaped heavier sanctions after assault and provocation charges against him were dropped.

Article 170 on assault and destruction of property carries a maximum penalty of five years and six months in jail, while Article 160 on written or verbal provocation carries up to six years.

Shalih Manggara Sitompul, Murhali’s lawyer, said the decision to drop the other charges proved his client’s innocence.

Suspended FPI Leader Claims Courtroom Conspiracy

The Jakarta Globe

Bekasi. The suspended head of the Bekasi branch of the notorious Islamic Defenders Front has rejected prosecution demands that he be jailed for six months for his role on leaders of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Bekasi last year.


The lawyer for Murhali Barda, Shalih Manggara Sitompul, told the Bekasi District Court on Monday that prosecutors had manipulated the case because they had presented wrong facts during the trial.

“All of the facts presented in the hearings, all of the witnesses, said that they did not see Murhali Barda commit unpleasant conduct regarding the September 12 attack,” Shalih told the court.

“But the prosecutors have attempted to present the facts that occurred on August 1 and 8, when the Ciketing residents launched a protest against the HKBP’s plan to build a church there, while the trial is actually about the September 12 incident,” he said.

“Therefore, we hope that the judge will be fair in his verdict and release Murhali immediately.”

Last week, prosecutors stunned the courtroom when they demanded a six-month jail term for Barda, who was initially accused of inciting the attack through text messages and radio speeches as well as through his personal Facebook page.

Shalih said the prosecutors had manipulated the facts of the case due to outside pressure.

During the trial, the hard-liner stunned judges and the gallery at his trial by bursting into tears and advocating social harmony.

The FPI strongman is one of 13 standing trial for the stabbing of Asia Sihombing and beating of the Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak.

The attack took place as the congregation was its way to Ciketing, where it had been holding services after authorities sealed off the house it was using as a church in nearby Pondok Timur Indah.