TheNewsGuru

Tag: Indonesia

  • Assault on diplomat: FG rejects erring Indonesian officials’ apology, wants them sanctioned

    Assault on diplomat: FG rejects erring Indonesian officials’ apology, wants them sanctioned

    The Federal Government has threatened to review its relationship with Indonesia if it fails to bring the Indonesian immigration officials that assaulted a Nigerian diplomat to book.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffry Onyeama, stated this at a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Nigeria has also summoned its ambassador to Indonesia to give a detailed account of the assault, which has sparked outrage after a video of it went viral.

    Onyeama’s briefing follows Monday’s statement by his Ministry condemning the assault.

    In that statement, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria has apologised and that the immigration officials involved had also visited the Nigerian Embassy in Indonesia to apologise to the diplomat.

    But Onyeama told journalists in Abuja that the Federal Government wanted stronger action to be taken by the Indonesian Government.

    The officials must be sanctioned, he said, adding that Indonesia’s failure to do so will have consequences for the relationship between both countries.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that a video of the incident which went viral showed at least three men, identified later as immigration officials, in a vehicle assaulting the Nigerian diplomat and ignoring his screams of pain.

    While two of the men held his hands and pinned him down in the backseat, another freely assaulted his unprotected head as he cried out in pain.

  • FG reacts after video of Indonesian immigration officials manhandling, arresting Nigerian diplomat goes viral

    FG reacts after video of Indonesian immigration officials manhandling, arresting Nigerian diplomat goes viral

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned the assault of a Nigerian diplomat by immigration officials in Indonesia.

    According to reports, the victim, whose name was not mentioned, was manhandled and arrested by immigration officials on Saturday in front of his official quarters in the Asian country.

    A viral video of the event shows at least three men in a vehicle assaulting the official, ignoring his screams of pain.

    While two of the men held his hands and pinned him down in the backseat, another freely assaulted his unprotected head as he cried out in pain.

    “The unfortunate incident is against international law and the Vienna Conventions governing Diplomatic and Consular Relations between states,” the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

    “The Nigerian Government has complained strongly to the Government of Indonesia, and the Ambassador of Indonesia to Nigeria was summoned by the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    “The Ambassador explained what he understood happened and apologised unreservedly on behalf of the Government of Indonesia. The Nigerian Government has sent an official protest to the Government of Indonesia.”

    In addition to the Indonesian Ambassador’s apology, the immigration officials responsible for the assault have also apologised to the victim.

    “The Ambassador of Nigeria to Indonesia has confirmed that the immigration official involved had since come to the Nigerian Embassy to apologise to the Ambassador and the diplomat concerned,” the Foreign Ministry added.

  • COVID-19 kills 949 medical workers

    COVID-19 kills 949 medical workers

    Adib Khumaidi, Indonesian Medical Association’s head on Friday said at least 949 medical workers in Indonesia died of COVID-19 between March 2020 and June 2021.

    Khumaidi said of the 949 medical workers, 401 were doctors, 315 nurses, 150 midwives, 15 pharmacists, 43 dentists, and 25 medical laboratory experts.

    “The extraordinary surge in the number of patients in hospitals has increased the working hours of medical workers and doubled their risks of being exposed to the coronavirus.’’

    Khumaidi said the surge in COVID-19 cases could not be resolved simply by increasing the bed capacity in hospitals, but it had to be addressed from upstream by enhancing public order on health protocols.

    According to him, in May 2021, seven doctors died from COVID-19 but the number increased to 24 in June 2021.

    January 2021 has seen the highest number of 65 COVID-19 deaths among medical workers.

  • PHOTOS: 5 bags of human body parts retrieved from crashed plane

    PHOTOS: 5 bags of human body parts retrieved from crashed plane

    Rescuers on Sunday collected five bags of human body parts and three bags of debris of the Sriwijaya Air plane that crashed in the waters off the coast of Indonesian capital Jakarta on Saturday, according to a senior official.

    “We received three bags containing the debris of the plane and five bags of human body parts,’’ Operation Director of the National Search and Rescue Agency Rasman M.S. said.

    All the eight bags were carried by the navy’s KRI Kurau ship, according to the director.

    This has brought the total body parts discovered by the rescuers to seven.

    The Boeing 737-500 aircraft, flying from the capital Jakarta to Pontianak city in West Kalimantan province on Saturday afternoon, crashed into the Java Sea off Seribu District in north of Jakarta.

    It was carrying 50 passengers, including seven children, three babies and 12 crew members.

    The body parts would be handed to the police’s DVI (disaster victims identification) unit for identification and the debris would be sent to the National Transport Safety Committee for analysis, according to the agency.

    The search and rescue operation for the victims and the wreckage of the plane is still underway, it said.

    SEE PHOTOS BELOW:

  • Plane goes missing shortly after taking off

    Plane goes missing shortly after taking off

    A Sriwijaya Air plane with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off from Indonesian capital Jakarta on Saturday en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, local media reported.

    Reliable tracking service Flightradar24 said on its Twitter feed that Flight SJ182 “lost more than 10,000 feet of altitude in less than one minute, about 4 minutes after departure from Jakarta”.

    Surachman, a local government official, told Kompas TV that fishermen found what appeared to be the wreckage of an aircraft in waters north of Jakarta and a search was underway. Other channels showed pictures of suspected wreckage.

    “We found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water,” Zulkifli, a security official, told CNNIndonesia.com.

    The aircraft is a 27-year-old Boeing 737-500, according to registration details included in the Flightradar24 tracking data. It took off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) and lost contact soon afterwards, a search and rescue official told local television.

    Sriwijaya Air, an Indonesian airline, said in a statement it is still gathering more detailed information regarding the flight before it can make a fuller statement.

    A Boeing 737 MAX operated by Indonesian airline Lion Air crashed off Jakarta in late 2018, killing all 189 passengers and crew. The plane that lost contact on Saturday is a much older model.

    National search and rescue agency Basarnas said it could give no immediate comment.

  • Minister arrested over COVID-19 food funds

    Minister arrested over COVID-19 food funds

    Juliari Batubara, Indonesia’s Social Affairs Minister has been arrested for allegedly taking $1.2 million in bribes linked to food aid for those hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Batubara was named as a suspect after Indonesian anti-corruption agents seized suitcases, backpacks, and envelopes stuffed with cash equivalent to $1.2 million in a sting operation on Saturday.

    He turned himself in on Sunday at the anti-corruption agency’s headquarters, becoming the second minister in President Joko Widodo’s government to be arrested over alleged graft in recent weeks.

    “That’s the people’s money… it’s aid urgently needed to help during Covid-19 and for the national economic recovery,” Widodo said after Batubara’s arrest, vowing he would not protect any corrupt officials.

    Indonesia’s economy, Southeast Asia’s biggest, has been hit hard by the pandemic, and the government has rolled out aid programmes such as food packages to help those in need.

    Batubara has been accused of involvement in a bribery scheme linked to one such aid project.

    Officials have alleged that he received more than $1 million from two contractors that were appointed to supply basic food packages for people affected by the pandemic.

    For each package, Batubara would receive 10,000 rupiah, or $0.71, officials alleged.

    If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of one billion rupiah ($70,000).

  • Protesters attack Nigerian embassy in Indonesia, destroy properties

    Barely days after part of the Nigerian embassy was destroyed in Ghana, Nigerians protesting the alleged discrimination and violation of their human rights by Indonesian immigration officials, stormed the country’s embassy and vandalized some properties belonging to the Nigerian government.

    In a viral video clip, some persons alleged to be Nigerians were spotted carrying placards with various captions. They were heard chanting “Nigeria is not helping us in this country. We don’t have an Embassy. We no go ‘gree.”

     

    TheNewsGuru recalls that a 41-year-old Nigerian fell from a nine-storey building while trying to escape from Indonesian immigration officers. His fall, however, triggered protest amongst Nigerians, leading to the destruction and vandalisation of the country’s properties in the embassy.

    Reacting to the sad occurrence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, via his twitter handle, condemned the act, noting that those involved in the destruction of the country’s properties would be caught and dealt with.

     

    He said: “Absolutely deplorable and disgraceful criminal behaviour by Nigerian hooligans who without justification attacked the Nigerian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia today. “Every effort will be made to identify them and see they are severely punished. Totally unacceptable behavior.”

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CB2pzu0DJC9/

  • Jakarta closes schools as Indonesia’s coronavirus cases jump to 96

    Jakarta closes schools as Indonesia’s coronavirus cases jump to 96

    Authorities in the Indonesian capital will close all schools for two weeks as the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the country jumped to 96 on Saturday.

    Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said schools would be shut starting on Monday and lessons would have to given remotely.

    “This is for the safety of all of us and we hope that people will reduce activities outside their homes,” Baswedan said.

    The Jakarta administration on Friday announced the closure of 17 theme parks and amusement centres as a precaution.

    Twenty-seven more people tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 96, four of them fatal, said Achmad Yurianto, spokesman for the Health Ministry.

  • Facebook bans foreign-funded campaign ads for Indonesian election

    Facebook has temporarily banned political ads purchased from outside Indonesia in an effort to combat foreign interference in the country’s upcoming election.

    The restriction, which took effect on Tuesday, targets any ad that references politicians or political parties or attempts to encourage or suppress voting, Facebook said in a statement.

    “Combating foreign interference is a key pillar of our approach to safeguarding election integrity on our platform,’’ the social network said.

    Incumbent President, Joko Widodo, faces former Gen. Prabowo Subianto in the April 17 election – a repeat of the 2014 vote, which was marked by divisive and religiously-charged campaigning.

    In February, the Russian embassy in Jakarta denied the country was interfering in the Indonesian election after Joko accused Prabowo’s camp of engaging in “Russian propaganda’’.

    The opposition says that after five years in office, the president has a dismal economic record and is too cosy with China.

    Facebook said it was using a mix of automated and human review to help it identify offending ads.

    The company said it was setting up an operations centre in Singapore that focused on fighting false news, hates speech and election interference.

    In January, the company removed more than 1,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts, accusing them of engaging in what it called coordinated inauthentic behaviour in Indonesia.

     

  • Recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel will threaten Australia’s relationship with Indonesia – Ex PM

    Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday warned his successor that recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel would threaten Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.
    Following a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a global conference, Turnbull advised Prime Minister Scott Morrison who deposed him as leader of the governing Liberal Party in August that Widodo expressed “serious concern” about the plan to move Australia’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
    “There is no question, were that move to occur, it would be met with a very negative reaction in Indonesia.
    “This is after all the largest Muslim-majority country in the world,” Turnbull told reporters on Tuesday.
    Morrison declared he was “open” to the idea of moving the embassy in the lead-up to the by-election in Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth.
    More than 12 per cent of voters in Wentworth are Jewish and would be more likely to support the move.
    If the move was to go ahead, Australia would become the second country in the world to move its embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital after the U.S. did so.
    During a 40 minute meeting with Widodo, Turnbull said the Indonesian President “expressed to me, as he has done to Prime Minister Morrison, the very serious concern held in Indonesia about the prospect of the Australian embassy in Israel being moved from Tel Aviv to ­Jerusalem.”
    With Indonesians headed to the polls for a general election in 2019 Widodo has been working to secure the support of the nation’s conservative Islamic majority who oppose recognising Jerusalem as an Israeli city.
    Widodo’s objection to Morrison’s announcement raised doubt over whether a free trade agreement between Indonesia and Australia, which took eight years to negotiate, would go ahead but Turnbull dismissed that notion.
    “I have no reason to believe it won’t.
    “Of course, it then has to be ratified through the Indonesian parliamentary system in the normal way,” he said.