Hi folks,
This week we will bid farewell to the Year of the Ox and welcome the Year of the Tiger. To those of you who celebrate, we wish you “xin nian kuai le”, “gong xi fa cai”.
But the year might be off to a rough start as we saw an even more rapid rise in new Covid cases over the last seven days than the week before. We also saw how one public official has been running an illegal “drug rehabilitation” facility where people are being incarcerated and forced into… well… slavery.
Covid Situation
We hate to sound like a broken record here but the number of daily Covid infections has risen very very exponentially. On Monday, we recorded 2,925 new cases and by Sunday that figure had risen to 12,422. The majority came from Jakarta, which caused hospital bed occupancy rate in the city to rise to 54%. One week ago it was 31%.
Things have gotten so bad that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin decreed on Jan 27 that hospitals must only admit Covid patients with moderate, severe and critical symptoms.
Those with light symptoms or are asymptomatic must isolate and take care of themselves at home, except for those in circumstances where it is impossible to do so. The government, he said, will provide free telemedicine services for these patients.
Our coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment, who is also in charge of pretty much everything else, said technically Jakarta should impose level 3 PPKM but the government decided not to, at least for now, because its surrounding suburbs still do not qualify for such measures to be taken. The minister said this on Monday before this thing blew up (again). So there could be a major announcement coming this week.
Meanwhile, calls for the government to stop this ridiculous 100% in person classes policy has intensified this week. But the education ministry is adamant that the policy stays unless a region goes back to level 3.
The Regent’s Dungeon
Get ready… because this is a weird one, even by Indonesian standards. The Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK recently arrested the regent of Langkat, North Sumatra, Terbit Rencana Perangin Angin for allegedly demanding bribe money from a number of contractors.
But here’s where things got weirder.
When authorities moved in to raid his house in search for evidence, they instead discovered that the regent had been holding people captive at his own private prison cells at the back of his house. There were even people still inside the two prison cells when the raid took place, 43 to be exact, according to the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).
These people were there for various vices including drug offenses and gambling. During their time in Terbit’s custody they were forced to do manual labor without pay at the regent’s palm oil plantation and processing plant.
Reports say the regent has been operating this illegal cell and incarcerating people against their will for the past 10 years. In total, police said 656 individuals had been incarcerated at Terbit’s home since 2012.
The LPSK said some of the prisoners were subjected to all sorts of abuses and inhumane treatments. At least one person died in 2019 and the National Commission for Human Rights believed there could be more.
But hey, at least the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy believed that the regent was noble in his intention. Now how does that saying go? The one about good intentions.
Police could have acted more quickly. In a now deleted video aired on the Langkat government’s YouTube channel in March 2021, Terbit boasted how his house has been used to rehabilitate drug users and invited parents to send their children to the facility.
And some parents did. They even paid Terbit to have their loved ones “rehabilitated” at the illegal facility, even though they were subjected to forced labor and abuse. But at least the prisoners got to enjoy extra pudding for their manual labor.
Police said they are still building cases against the regent including one related to the discovery of a number of exotic and protected animals at his home.
However, complicating the matter is the fact that family members were forced to sign papers which say that they will not press charges should their loved ones die or get injured. But experts believe that these documents doesn’t absolve Terbit of criminal prosecution and that police can still charge him with exploitation, abuse of authority and running an illegal facility.
At the very least, Terbit can now get a taste of what it is like to be behind bars as he faces his corruption charges.
Did We Just Get Screwed?
Indonesia and Singapore signed an 18-year retroactive extradition treaty during a leaders retreat in Bintan, this week. This is a positive step in our efforts to eradicate corruption, especially given the fact that it is retroactive.
Before, a corruption suspect could easily go to Singapore and evade capture while our law enforcers had to navigate through red tapes to get them home and face justice. Does the name Nunun Nurbaeti ring a bell?
However, the retroactive bit only goes back 18 years which means that the extradition treaty does not apply to people who embezzled government bailouts during the height of the Asian Financial Crisis and fled to Singapore 24 years ago.
That’s pretty cheeky ain’t it?
The treaty also gives Indonesia authority over the airspace above the Riau Islands and Natuna. Singapore has been managing the airspace since 1946 and all flights, including say from Jakarta to Batam, previously had to seek permission from Singaporean authority.
But the agreement also delegates Singapore the provision of air navigation services in portions of the airspace. This Agreement will remain in force for 25 years and shall be extended by mutual consent if both parties find it beneficial to do so.
Those aforementioned portions of the airspace, Indonesian transportation minister Budi Karya said, are altitude 0-37,000 feet, which means planes still need permission from Singapore if they want to land in Batam.
Quick Reads
Get Out of Jail Card
Attorney general Burhanuddin has attracted widespread criticisms after he told a parliamentary hearing that he planned on telling his men not to prosecute corruption cases with less than Rp 50 million in losses if the suspect agrees to return the money.
He said this police will spare everyone a prolonged court process. Burhanuddin said that such small cases can be resolved “administratively” and the offender should only be put under tight scrutiny to stop that person from committing the same crime.
Of course, every law expert, anti-corruption officials and activists out there are freaking out about this.
If You Can’t Say Something Nice
Another man attracting nationwide condemnation is former PKS legislative candidate-turned-YouTuber Edy Mulyadi after he called the location of the new Indonesian capital in Kalimantan as “a place where jinns throw away their children” in one of his videos.
Edy defended his comment saying that it was an expression commonly used by Gen-Xers back in the day to describe a place that is out in the middle of nowhere. That part is true by the way. Or so our dads and uncles told us. We’re that young. Believe us!
But members of the Dayak community in Kalimantan are not having it and reported the YouTuber to the police. Police this week announced that they have charged Edy for criminal defamation. He was summoned to appear for questioning on Friday but decided to snub it.
Puff Away
We got an international one for you. Thailand has become the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis for recreational use. Under the new regulation, people will be allowed to grow marijuana for personal use, but they first have to notify the government. Growing cannabis for commercial purposes will require further licenses.
If any of you potheads are thinking about moving to Thailand anytime soon, you might want to wait a bit longer. The new regulation will enter into force in 120 days, before which you can still face up to 3 years jail or a fine of around $900.