January 1, 2022 – Page 2 – Indonesia News Gazette

January 1, 2022

83 Pesantren graduates recruited as cadets in 2021: police chief

Jakarta Eighty-three graduates of Islamic boarding schools (Pesantren) across Indonesia were recruited as police cadets in 2021, according to National Police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

Fifty-six of them were categorized as “hafiz”, or Muslims who have memorized the Quran. They will serve as non-commissioned officers in the National Police, he said in his year-end statement, released here on Friday evening.

The Pesantren graduates were recruited through the National Police’s proactive recruitment program, Prabowo said.

Police also recruited 410 members of indigenous tribes and 3,400 native Papuans last year, he added.

The recruitment of the native Papuans to strengthen police in Papua was aimed at making communication with local communities easier to help maintain public peace, order, and security, he explained.

Prabowo also highlighted the National Police’s commitment to promoting gender equality in appointing policemen and policewomen to the post of inspector general of police.

Source: Antara News

January 1, 2022

West Java Governor rings in New Year on optimistic note

I, Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java, representing West Java’s provincial government, would like to say Happy New Year 2022.

Bandung, West Java West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, in a short video message released on Saturday, welcomed the New Year on an optimistic note, citing the declining trend in COVID-19 infections in Indonesia, including West Java.

“I, Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java, representing West Java’s provincial government, would like to say Happy New Year 2022,” he stated.

The governor also expressed his wish for West Java in 2022.

Indonesia faced a difficult time throughout 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.

The pandemic has not affected only the health sector but all sectors, including the economy, he said.

However, infections have started to decline at the beginning of 2022, he pointed out.

Thus, this should be the moment to make 2022 a year that is more peaceful and full of optimism as well as to revive the economy, he remarked.

Achieving this, however, will require all citizens in Indonesia, including in West Java, to comply with the health protocols, he added.

Kamil also urged people to be more lively in the new year and live out their days in 2022 productively.

“And, I hope that all West Java residents could be happy in welcoming this year,” he said.

Earlier, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout here on Saturday, had urged the public to take the experience of 2021 as an important lesson in facing 2022.

“Looking back at the year 2021, with all of its good and bad, would be beneficial if we take a lesson from everything that we have experienced,” he remarked.

He further said he was keen to make 2022 a year for scripting a stronger and better recovery.

Source: Antara News

January 1, 2022

Some 122 terrorist prisoners pledged allegiance to Indonesia in 2021

By pledging their allegiance to Indonesia, the prisoners are ready to love the nation and collectively protect the Pancasila by respecting differences.

Jakarta Correctional Directorate General at the Law and Human Rights Ministry recorded that 122 terrorist prisoners had pledged their allegiance to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia in 2021.

“Pledging allegiance to the nation is one of the successes of the Correctional Technical Unit in deradicalizing terrorism prisoners,” the ministry’s official, Rika Aprianti, noted in a press statement here Saturday.

These prisoners comprise 68 people from the Gunung Sindur Prison, 13 from the Batu Nusakambangan Prison, nine from the Pasir Putih Nusakambangan Correctional Institution, and 32 spread out in other penitentiaries.

Source: Antara News

January 1, 2022

BRIN identifies seven new plant species by 2021-end

Currently, we have succeeded in conserving more than 100 types of Begonias from various regions in Indonesia.

Jakarta Researchers from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) have identified seven new plant species by the end of 2021, the head of the agency’s Research Center for Plant Conservation and Botanical Gardens has informed.

“The discovery has increased Indonesia’s biodiversity. It also provides information for further research on sustainable use of the biodiversity,” Sukma Surya Kusumah said in a written statement issued here on Saturday.

The research center will continue to explore and identify plants in their natural habitat to conserve endangered plants, he added.

Most of the plants classified by BRIN, such as Hoya batutikarensis, Hoya buntokensis, Dendrobium dedeksantosoi, Rigiolepis argentii, Begonia robii, Begonia willemii, and Etlingera comosa, are ornamental plants, he informed.

In addition, the agency has also found a subspecies of Zingiber ultralimitale identified as mataromeoense, Kusumah said.

Begonia robii is endemic to Sumatra Island, he informed. Its stem resembles a rhizome with highly asymmetrical leaves, he said. It has a very attractive leaf color pattern, and thus holds the potential to be an ornamental plant, he added.

Meanwhile, Begonia willemii can only be found in lowland limestone hills in Sulawesi Island, he said.

A sample of the species was collected from a forest in Luwuk Banggai district, Central Sulawesi province, he revealed. Its discovery was a collaboration between BRIN and researchers from the Singapore Botanic Gardens, he added.

A researcher at BRIN’s research center, Wisnu Handoyo Ardi, said that Begonia is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Currently, 2,052 Begonia species have been identified from pantropical regions around the world, he informed.

Source: Antara News

January 1, 2022

Four cops in West Sumatra’s Solok fired for police misconduct

Solok, W Sumatra The Solok city police in West Sumatra dismissed four police officers on grounds of disciplinary violation and involvement in drug trafficking and motorcycle theft in 2021.

Three of the officers were fired for police misconduct in mid-2021 while the other one was dismissed in absentia on December 31, 2021, Solok City Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. Ferry Suwandi stated here on Saturday.

Prior to their dismissal, the officers were given opportunities to change themselves. However, instead of improving their ethical behavior, police misconduct and criminal offence continued, he remarked.

Punishing police officers, who violate the code of ethics, rules, and regulations, has become the commitment of the National Police’s top brass to maintaining professionalism, Suwandi noted.

Meanwhile, the West Java police headquarters had recently announced the dismissal of former Astanya Anyar police chief Commissioner Yuni Purwanti owing to her involvement in drug offence.

Purwanti and 11 other police officers were arrested by a joint team of personnel from the National Police and West Java Police for consuming a narcotics drug at a hotel in Bandung City on Feb 16, 2021.

Domestic and transnational drug dealers view Indonesia as a potential market owing to its large population and millions of drug users. Drug trade in Indonesia is valued at almost Rp66 trillion.

Data indicated that people from all strata of society are falling prey to drugs regardless of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds.

In November 2020, a police officer in Deli Serdang District, North Sumatra Province, for instance, was sacked over his involvement in a drug-related offense.

The dismissal of Chief Brigadier F. S. was announced at a roll call, led by deputy chief of the Deli Serdang Police Precinct, Adjunct Sen. Coms. Julianto P. Sirait, on November 23, 2020.

In June 2020, a policeman was arrested for consuming drugs at a hotel in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province.

The policeman, identified as EW, and three other people were reportedly caught consuming crystal methamphetamine during a drug raid and placed under police custody. During the raid, 19 grams of crystal meth were also seized.

In July 2020, some 260 policemen in South Sumatra had undergone a rehabilitation program to recover from drug addiction.

Source: Antara News

January 1, 2022

Attorney General’s Office handled 147,624 criminal cases in 2021

Jakarta Indonesian Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin, in a written statement here on Saturday, affirmed that the Attorney General’s Office had handled 147,624 criminal cases out of which it resolved 94,461 in 2021.

Burhanuddin explained that this figure chiefly constituted criminal cases related to narcotics, theft, and harassment. However, he did not furnish the figure for each of these categories.

Numerous cases stood out in 2021, such as the case of harassment of Muhammad Kace, the defendant in the hate speech and blasphemy case, by the national police’s inspectorate general Napoleon Bonaparte.

Bonaparte was also the defendant in Djoko Tjandra’s red notice bribery case.

In addition, during 2021, the Attorney General’s Office solved 346 cases by implementing the restorative justice approach.

He also highlighted the office’s strategic performance achievement in 2021, such as resolving general criminal cases that obtained permanent legal force and verdict that reached 103.25 percent.

Source: Antara News