November 21, 2017

By Ed Davies and Cindy Silviana

JAKARTA (Reuters) – An Indonesian court ruled on Tuesday that Goldman Sachs <GS.N> should return shares in property developer PT Hanson International Tbk <MYRX.JK> to tycoon Benny Tjokrosaputro in a legal tussle over ownership.

Judge Achmad Guntur also ordered Goldman to pay 320.88 billion rupiah ($23.71 million) in compensation, a copy of the ruling from the South Jakarta court showed.

Tjokrosaputro, president director of Hanson International <MYRX.JK>, had in a lawsuit sued the U.S. bank for 15 trillion rupiah ($1.11 billion), accusing it of making “unlawful” trades in the shares and claiming ownership of 425 million shares.

Goldman had said that Goldman Sachs International had bought the Hanson shares from New York hedge fund Platinum Partners in a series of “valid” transactions on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) between February 2015 and December 2015.

Tuesday’s ruling said that Tjokrosaputro was the legal owner of as many as 425 million shares in Hanson International.

“We are surprised and disappointed at this decision and will be appealing it at the earliest opportunity,” said Edward Naylor, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs based in Hong Kong.

The court also rejected a Goldman counter-suit against Tjokrosaputro for at least $1.1 billion, said Harjon Sinaga, a Jakarta-based lawyer representing Goldman Sachs International.

Sinaga said his client had no relationship with the claimant and shares were acquired through the negotiated board of the IDX and the transactions were validly settled.The dispute comes at a time when Southeast Asia’s largest economy is embarking on its biggest drive for foreign investment in a decade.

At stake in the Goldman case is the protection of the rights of foreigners, amid a general lack of transparency in Indonesian court proceedings, legal experts say.

“Well, I actually just wanted my shares back. I am not asking much,” Tjokrosaputro told Reuters.

Tjokrosaputro had pledged Hanson shares to Platinum in return for funding on the basis he could get the shares back upon repayment, according to his lawyers and court documents.

Such a repurchase agreement, or a repo, effectively acts as a loan but the deal involves temporarily transferring legal ownership of the shares.

Goldman Sachs International bought the Hanson shares from Platinum as a hedge for the derivatives it had entered into with the fund, a bank spokesman has said.

In late 2014, New York-based Platinum fell into financial difficulties and had trouble paying back a large number of investors, according to U.S. authorities.

Goldman started selling the Hanson shares last year, but was forced to stop after Tjokrosaputro filed a police complaint, which he followed up with the lawsuit.

Goldman says in its court filings that it “understands” Platinum originally acquired the Hanson shares from an entity named Newrick Holdings Ltd, rather than from Tjokrosaputro.

According to the “Panama Papers” online database as of 2015, which compiled millions of leaked documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca, Newrick is a company registered in the British Virgin Islands in which Tjokrosaputro was a shareholder.

A bank spokesman told Reuters that Goldman Sachs International was not aware of any dealings between Tjokrosaputro or his affiliated entities and Platinum Partners, nor any restrictions on the shares it purchased.

The tycoon’s lawyer have said that Tjokrosaputro was the legal owner of the shares in the repo transaction with Platinum and, since he did not breach any contract with Platinum, only he had the right to sell them.

($1 = 13,532.0000 rupiah)

(Reporting by Ed Davies and Cindy Silviana, Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Mount Agung emits volcanic smoke and ash from its crater as seen from Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. The volcano on the Indonesian tourist island has spewed ash and smoke, but authorities say its alert level remains unchanged. (AP Photo/Wayan Wijaya)

November 22, 2017

OAN Newsroom

A volcano erupted on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Thousands of people living near Mount Agung had already fled from their homes after the volcano showed signs of a possible eruption.

The rise in volcanic activity in the months prior to the eruption prompted around 140,000 people to relocate to safer locations.

Mt. Agung sits on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” which is an area where tectonic plates are colliding and cause seismic waves.

Smoke and ash could be seen rising to about 2,300 feet higher than its summit on Tuesday.

The last time this volcano erupted was in 1963, which lead to the death of over 1,500 people.

Many local residents are said to currently be living in shelters.

Meanwhile, airlines are keeping a close eye on possible flight cancellations, but the airport remains open with no changes so far.

November 26, 2017

By Tom Allard and Fergus Jensen

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Implicated in five corruption scandals since the 1990s but never convicted, the speaker of Indonesia’s parliament Setya Novanto is a political survivor.

Last week Novanto was detained by anti-corruption investigators over the biggest graft scandal to hit Indonesia’s legislature.

The 62-year-old political powerbroker was defiant, denying any wrongdoing and urging parliament and the political party he leads not to unseat him. His lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, expressed confidence that Novanto would be cleared.

“In every court we always win,” Yunadi told Reuters.

But the latest allegations against Novanto have reinforced the perception among Indonesians that their parliament, long regarded as riddled with entrenched corruption, is a failing institution.

Politicians and analysts say that is unlikely to change, whatever the outcome of the case.

“Before Setya Novanto, there were many, many MPs who were put in jail and it didn’t have an effect,” said Eva Sundari, a member of parliament from the PDI-P party, which sits in the ruling coalition alongside Novanto’s Golkar.

A Corruption Eradication Commission, known by its Indonesian initials KPK, was established in 2002 after the demise of authoritarian president Suharto. Fiercely independent and able to wiretap suspects without a warrant, it has been a thorn in the side of the country’s establishment.

But Bob Lowry, an Indonesia analyst at the Australian Institute of International Affairs, said that – the KPK aside – there has never been a systemic approach to tackling corruption that he says runs through all layers of government and politics.

“You are not dealing with individuals, you are dealing with an entire structure and culture.” he said.

A BAGMAN, A SUICIDE AND A LUXURY WATCH

Novanto is accused of orchestrating a scheme to plunder $173 million, or almost 40 percent of the entire budget for the project, from a government contract to introduce a national electronic identity card.

Novanto denies any wrongdoing, writing a letter to other parliament leaders after he was detained asking them to “give me an opportunity to prove that I wasn’t involved”.

According to an indictment filed against Novanto’s alleged bagman, businessman Andi Agustinus, they stood to be personally enriched to the tune of $42 million.

Agustinus has not yet commented on the allegations or entered any plea. He is due to appear in court this week to answer the charges.

The rest of the money was funneled to as many as 60 lawmakers, as well as officials, party chiefs, parliamentary staffers and tenderers, according to the KPK, which alleges some of the cash was brazenly divided up in parliamentary meeting rooms.

In August a witness in the probe, a U.S.-based consultant to a company that won a contract to supply biometric technology for the identity cards – ironically aimed, in part, at curbing graft – shot himself after a stand-off with police in Los Angeles.

Before his death, Johannes Marliem told KPK officers about meeting Novanto at his Jakarta home in 2011, according to a declaration to a court in Minnesota by a Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent, at which the parliament speaker negotiated a “discount” under which he and Agustinus would get a 40 percent share of a contract worth more than $50 million.

Marliem is also alleged to have said he had brought Novanto a $135,000 Richard Mille watch and showed the agent a photo of Novanto wearing it.

A consummate political operator, Novanto is a key link between parliament and the government of President Joko Widodo, who is expected to seek re-election in 2019, said Hugo Brennan, Asia analyst at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

He gained a measure of international prominence in September 2015 when Donald Trump, then a U.S. presidential candidate, hailed him as “an amazing man” at a news conference in Trump Tower in New York.

Two months later he resigned from the speaker’s post after a recording of a meeting emerged in which he was alleged to have attempted to extort $4 billion of shares from the U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan. The case got blanket media coverage and hearings were televised live.

Within a year, however, Novanto was speaker again after the Constitutional Court ruled the recording inadmissible.

MONEY POLITICS

Novanto’s detention last week came after months of declining to answer summonses for questioning by the KPK.

The allegations have once more gripped Indonesia, with newspaper front pages splashing the story and memes mocking Novanto trending on social media.

Indonesia was ranked last year at 90 out of 176 countries on Transparency International’s corruption perception index.

The watchdog has singled out parliament as Indonesia’s most corrupt institution, and in July called on President Widodo to protect the KPK against attempts by the legislature to weaken the commission’s powers.

Critics inside and outside the parliament say the root problem is money politics, which is underpinned by an open-ticket electoral system and campaign financing laws.

These laws allow only tiny amounts of public funding, and do not require public disclosure of individual donors, which some lawmakers say perpetuates a system of funding from illicit sources and financial patronage for favors.

The open-ticket voting system encourages candidates to spread largesse to voters and community leaders and then recoup the expenditure if they reach parliament, says the PDI-P’s Sundari.

Lawmaker Aryo Djojohadikusumo told Reuters that, with members of parliament holding the power to micromanage and approve the budgets of individual projects, “the temptation to engage in pork-barrel politics is extremely high”.

However, he believes that parliament’s reputation as corrupt has been magnified by the KPK’s zeal in going after politicians, who make more headlines than low-level bureaucrats.

Critics say many members of parliament are so focused on raising money for future campaigns and personal enrichment that the legislature is not doing its job.

According to watchdog Concerned Citizens for the Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), lawmakers in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy have ratified just five of 50 priority bills this year.

“If you want to see Indonesia free of corruption,” Fahri Hamzah, one of parliament’s vice speakers, told Reuters, “you have to start tackling the political financing.”

(Additional reporting and writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Alex Richardson)

November 27, 2017

By Nyimas Laula

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia closed the airport on the tourist island of Bali on Monday and ordered 100,000 residents living near a grumbling volcano spewing columns of ash to evacuate immediately, warning that the first major eruption in 54 years could be “imminent”.

The airport was closed for 24 hours from Monday morning, disrupting 445 flights and some 59,000 passengers, after Mount Agung, which killed hundreds of people in 1963, sent volcanic ash high into the sky, and officials said cancellations could be extended.

“Plumes of smoke are occasionally accompanied by explosive eruptions and the sound of weak blasts that can be heard up to 12 km (7 miles) from the peak,” the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement after raising the alert from three to its highest level of four.

“The potential for a larger eruption is imminent,” it said, referring to a visible glow of magma at Mount Agung’s peak overnight, and warning residents to evacuate a danger zone at a radius of 8-10 km (5-6 miles).

Sutopo, a BNPB spokesman, said there had been no casualties so far and 40,000 people had left the area, but tens of thousands still needed to move.

Video footage shared by the agency showed volcanic mud flows (lahar) on the mountainside. Lahar carrying mud and large boulders can destroy houses, bridges and roads in its path.

Bali, famous for its surf, beaches and temples, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, and its airport serves as a transport hub for the chain of islands in Indonesia’s eastern archipelago.

But tourism has slumped in parts of Bali since September when Agung’s volcanic tremors began to increase and the alert level was raised to maximum before being lowered in October when seismic activity calmed.”I’m really worried. Maybe I’ll go somewhere south that I think will be safe to avoid being trapped by the ashfall,” said Maria Becker, a German tourist staying in Amed, around 15 km (9 miles) from the volcano.

Agung rises majestically over eastern Bali to a height of just over 3,000 metres (9,800 feet). Northeastern Bali is relatively undeveloped compared to the more heavily populated southern tourist hub of Kuta-Seminyak-Nusa Dua.

Indonesia’s Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre (PVMBG), which is using drones, satellite imagery and other equipment, said predictions were difficult in the absence of instrumental recordings from the last eruption 54 years ago.

In 1963, an eruption of Agung killed more than 1,000 people and razed several villages by hurling out pyroclastic material, hot ash, lava and lahar.

Recordings now show the northeast area of Agung’s peak has swollen in recent weeks “indicating there is fairly strong pressure toward the surface”, PVMBG said.

It warned that if a similar eruption occurred, it could send rocks bigger than fist-size up to 8 km (5 miles) from the summit and volcanic gas to a distance of 10 km (6 miles) within three minutes.

Some analysis, however, suggests the threat should not be as great this time because “energy at Mount Agung’s magma chamber is not as big” and the ash column only around a quarter as high so far as the 20 km (12 miles) reached in 1963, Sutopo said.

“CHECK-INS CLOSED”

Bali airport, about 60 km (37 miles) from the volcano, will be closed for 24 hours, its operator said.

Ten alternative airports have been prepared for airlines to divert inbound flights, including in neighboring provinces.

Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said it was cancelling flights on Tuesday, while Jetstar was offering to exchange Bali bound tickets for other destinations.

Television footage showed hundreds of holidaymakers camped inside the airport terminal, some sleeping on their bags, others using mobile telephones.

“We have been here (in Bali) for three days we are about to leave today, but just found out our flights have been canceled. We have got no information because the gates, the check-ins, have been closed indefinitely,” said Carlo Oben from Los Angeles.

Cover-More, Australia’s biggest travel insurer, said on its website customers would only be covered if they had bought policies before the volcano alert was first issued on Sept. 18.

Indonesia’s hotel and restaurant association said stranded tourists at member hotels would get one night’s free stay.

The main airport on Lombok, next to Bali, was closed after being open for much of the day, a spokesman said.

Airlines avoid flying when volcanic ash is present because it can damage engines and can clog fuel and cooling systems and hamper visibility.

(For interactive package on Agung eruptions, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AayRVh)(For graphic on Pacific ring of fire, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AzR9jv)

(Additonal reporting by Reuters Bali stringer in DENPASAR, Angie Teo, Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina Munthe in JAKARTA and Jamie Freed in SINGAPORE; Writing by Ed Davies and Fergus Jensen; Editing by Michael Perry and Nick Macfie)

November 28, 2017

By John Geddie and Fathin Ungku

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Indonesian business tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo said on Tuesday he was not planning to stand in the country’s 2019 presidential election, and that he would support current President Joko Widodo if he chose to run again.

Tanoesoedibjo, a business partner of Donald Trump whose political ambitions have led to similarities with the U.S. President being drawn, said in January he would decide before the end of next year whether to run in the ballot.

He previously stood as a candidate for vice president in the 2014 election and subsequently founded his own political party, which will contest Indonesia’s general elections in 2019.

“Looking at the constellation today, I think President Jokowi will run again and I am in the position to support him,” he told Reuters at the Asia TV Forum and Market in Singapore.

Asked if he would stand, he replied: “No, I don’t think so.”

Widodo is expected to stand for a second term against Prabowo Subianto, who also rang against him in 2014.

Religious and political tension in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, escalated to its highest level during a divisive election for Jakarta governor earlier this year.

Tanoesoedibjo said the political climate in Indonesia remained stable but that the country needed a president that “stands in the middle of everyone”.

“He (Widodo) is the strongest candidate. He is very moderate and he is very nationalist,” added Tanoesoedibjo.

As a business partner of Trump, Tanoesoedibjo believes his relationship with the U.S. President could help ties between the nations and he is not worried about the impact U.S. trade protectionism may have on the Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

“At least Mr Trump knows Indonesia better because of the relationship we have between our group and the Trump organization,” he said.

“But what he is doing about reviewing the trade relationship with other countries I think is right….but Indonesia is too small…for the U.S. in terms of the amount of trade between the two countries and I don’t think that would have any impact at all.”

Tanoesoedibjo is Trump’s business partner in two resort developments in Indonesia – on the island of Bali and in West Java.

Turning to his other business interests Tanoesoedibjo said he had plans to list a division of his company – MNC Studios International – on the Jakarta stock exchange next year.

“We have seen many interests (by investors) because it’s the largest production company in the country,” he said.

(Editing by Nick Macfie & Simon Cameron-Moore)

November 28, 2017

By Kanupriya Kapoor and Slamet Kurniawan

KARANGASEM, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia kept the airport on Bali closed on Tuesday as ash from an erupting volcano swept the holiday island, leaving thousands of tourists stranded as authorities tried to persuade villagers living nearby to leave their homes.

A total of 443 flights, both domestic and international, were affected by the closure of the airport, about 60 km (37 miles) from Mount Agung which is spewing smoke and ash high into the sky.

“Aircraft flight channels are covered with volcanic ash,” the transport ministry said in a statement, citing aviation navigation authorities.

The airport – the second-biggest in Indonesia – will be closed at least until 7 a.m. on Wednesday (2300 GMT on Tuesday), the ministry said.

Frustration at the airport was starting to boil over, with an estimated 2,000 people attempting to get refunds and reschedule tickets.

“There are thousands of people stranded here at the airport,” said Nitin Sheth, a tourist from India. “They have to go to some other airport and they are trying to do that, but the government or authorities here are not helping.”

Others were more relaxed.

“No, there’s not a lot of information … very little. (But) it’s all right. We’re on holidays so it doesn’t matter. We don’t know what’s going to happen but we can get back to the bar and have another drink,” said Matthew Radix from Perth.

The airport operator said 201 international flights and 242 domestic ones had been hit.

Ten alternative airports had been prepared for airlines to divert inbound flights, including in neighboring provinces, the operator said, adding it was helping people make alternative bookings and helping stranded travelers.

The airport on Lombok island, to the east of Bali, had reopened, authorities said, as wind blew ash westward, towards the southern coast of Java island.

PRAYERS

Agung towers over eastern Bali to a height of just over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet). Its last eruption in 1963 killed more than 1,000 people and razed several villages.

On Tuesday, however, life went on largely as normal in surrounding villages, with residents offering prayers as the volcano sent huge billows of ash and smoke into the sky.

Some villagers who fled in September, when the alert was last raised to the highest level, have gone home despite government warnings.

On Monday, authorities said 100,000 residents living near the volcano had been ordered to get out of an 8-10 km (5-6 mile) exclusion zone, warning a larger eruption was “imminent”.

While the population in the area has been estimated at anywhere between 63,000 and 140,000, just over 29,000 people were registered at emergency centers, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Disaster Mitigation Agency.

“Not all people in the danger zone are prepared to take refuge,” he said.

“There are still a lot of residents staying in their homes.”

Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center has warned that an eruption of a size similar to that seen in 1963 could send rocks bigger than a fist flying a distance of up to 8 km (5 miles), and volcanic gas a distance of 10 km (6 miles) within three minutes.

Monitoring has shown the northeastern part of Agung’s peak had swollen in recent weeks “indicating there is fairly strong pressure toward the surface”, the center said.

For interactive package on Agung eruptions, click: http://tmsnrt.rs/2hYdHiq

For graphic on the Pacific Ring of Fire, click: http://tmsnrt.rs/2BjtH6l

(Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor, Slamet Kurniawan, Nyimas Laula and Reuters Bali stringer in BALI, and; Bernadette Christina Munthe, Cindy Silviana and Fransiska Nangoy in JAKARTA; Additional reporting by Angie Teo and Ed Davies; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel)

Mount Agung spews volcanic ash into the air behind the village of Bukit Asah, Bali, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. Flights trickled out of Bali a day after its airport reopened but the erupting volcano there shut down air travel to a neighboring Indonesian island Thursday, showing the continued risk to aircraft from the towering ash clouds. (AP Photo/Nyoman Hendra)

November 30, 2017

OAN Newsroom

Officials say a volcano in Bali is likely to erupt again.

Seismologists say there is strong lava movement underneath the Mount Agung volcano just days after the first eruptions took place.

This comes after officials were forced to close down the airport on the resort island, leaving tens-of-thousands of travelers stranded,

The airport reopened on Wednesday, but a large plume of ash and smoke continues to hover over the volcano.

“It shows that the volcano will still have big possibility to have an eruption,” suggested Seismologist Devy Kamil Syahbana. “What size of the eruption we could not predict, but we could say that it is very likely that we will have more eruptions in the future.”

Roughly 100,000 people were told to evacuate an area extending six miles from the volcano.

Reports say about 40,000 residents are staying in shelters, while thousands of others have stayed with their homes and livestock despite the risk.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered the country’s military and police forces to aid in disaster relief, and has strongly urged the evacuation of residents in the exclusion zone.

FILE – In this June 19, 2017, file photo, prison officials walk in front of the main entrance to the Kerobokan prison in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. An American citizen detained for a drug offense escaped Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, from the overcrowded and under-staffed Kerobokan prison on the Indonesian resort island. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

December 11, 2017

OAN Newroom

An American man held on drug charges in Bali is on the run after escaping from a notorious prison on the Indonesian island.

Christian Beasley broke out of the Kerobokan Prison Monday morning with a fellow inmate, who was re-captured immediately.

The inmates reportedly sawed through a ceiling before climbing over a prison wall.

Indonesian authorities arrested the 32-year-old for drug possession back in August.

He was caught carrying six grams of “hashish” — a drug from cannabis — and was awaiting sentencing at the prison.

The maximum penalty for some drug charges in Indonesia is death.

Mugshot of Christian Beasley, a U.S. man on the run after climbing back wall to escape Bali’s Kerobokan Prison. (Photo/Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

December 11, 2017

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian police are hunting for a U.S. citizen who escaped on Monday from an overcrowded prison on the holiday island of Bali by cutting through steel bars in a ceiling, the jail’s second breakout of foreign inmates this year.

The Kerobokan prison, about 10 km (six miles) from the main tourist beaches in the Kuta area, often holds foreigners facing drug-related charges.

Cristian Beasley, who was a suspect in crimes related to narcotics but had not been sentenced, escaped at 4.10 a.m. (2010 GMT Sunday), said Badung Police chief Yudith Satria Hananta.

“It is thought that the prisoner escaped … by cutting through the steel bars above the ceiling,” he said in a statement, without giving details of how Beasley escaped without being detected.

Beasley, 32, from California, is believed to have then used a rope to climb down a wall before getting over a perimeter wall in an area being refurbished.

Police had questioned witnesses and guards and were hunting for Beasley, Hananta said.

Another American, Paul Anthony Hoffman, 57, was captured while also trying to escape, Hananta said.

Representatives of Beasley and Hoffman could not immediately be reached for comment.

In June, an Australian, a Bulgarian, an Indian and a Malaysian tunneled to freedom about 12 meters (13 yards) under the prison’s walls.

The Indian and the Bulgarian were caught soon after in neighboring East Timor, but Australian Shaun Edward Davidson and Malaysian Tee Kok King remain at large.

Davidson has taunted authorities by saying he was enjoying life in various parts of the world, in purported posts on Facebook.

Kerobokan has housed a number of well-known foreign drug convicts, including Australian Schappelle Corby, whose 12-1/2-year sentence for marijuana smuggling got huge media attention.

Indonesia has executed several foreign drug convicts in recent years.

Indonesian prisons are often overcrowded, partly because a war on drugs led by the government of President Joko Widodo has led to a surge in the number of people locked up.

As of June, Kerobokan housed 1,378 inmates, more than four times its planned capacity of 323, government data show.

Prison escapes are fairly common in Indonesia, which launched an investigation this year after about 350 inmates broke out of a prison on the island of Sumatra.

(Reporting by Reuters Bali stringer; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

December 11, 2017

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian anti-terrorism police have detained 18 people with links to militant groups in a bid to cut the risk of attacks during Christmas and the New Year in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, police said on Monday.

Near-simultaneous attacks on churches in the capital, Jakarta, and elsewhere on Christmas Eve in 2000, killed nearly 20 people. Ever since, authorities have stepped up security at churches and tourist spots for the holiday.

Police Chief Tito Karnavian said while there was no evidence of a specific plot, the detentions were made in a bid to head off trouble.

“We’re doing a pre-emptive strike,” Karnavian told reporters. 

“The majority of them have links to previous incidents (and people) who we had arrested earlier,” he said.

Police said that 12 people had been detained in South Sumatra, four in West Kalimantan, one in Malang in East Java and one in Surabaya in the same province.

Under Indonesia’s anti-terrorism laws, investigators can hold people for seven days before determining whether they will be designated suspects or released, said police spokesman Setyo Wasisto.

Indonesia has seen its share of militant attacks over the years aimed at foreign, Christian and government targets including blasts on the tourist island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people.

Since then, police have managed to stamp out or weaken many militant networks although there has been a resurgence in radicalism in recent years, inspired largely by Islamic State.

A series of small-scale attacks since early 2016 has been linked to Islamic State, which is believed to have thousands of sympathizers in Indonesia.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Robert Birsel)

November 17, 2017

By Fergus Jensen

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian anti-graft investigators have put the speaker of parliament, who they have identified as a suspect in a $170 million corruption case, under armed guard in hospital after he was involved in a car accident, his lawyer said on Friday.

Officers from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) tried to arrest Setya Novanto, the chairman of Golkar, Indonesia’s second-largest party and partner in the ruling coalition, at his house in Jakarta late on Wednesday.

But the investigators, watched by television cameras, failed to find him, sparking speculation that he had gone into hiding.

The KPK is investigating state losses amounting to about $170 million linked to a national electronic identity card scheme after allegations that sums ranging from $5,000 to $5.5 million – generated by marking up procurement costs – were divided up among politicians in parliament.

Novanto was named a suspect in the case again last week after he had used a controversial legal maneuver, a pre-trial motion, to get earlier charges dropped last month.

He has denied wrongdoing but has repeatedly missed summonses from the KPK for questioning in recent months, saying he was ill and needed to undergo heart surgery.

Late on Thursday, reports emerged that Novanto was involved in a car accident while on his way to turn himself in at KPK headquarters.

Novanto’s lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, said a journalist was driving the vehicle and interviewing his client at the time of the accident.

“(The driver) was looking back and looking to the side, so he wasn’t concentrating on what was in front of him,” Yunadi said.

Novanto was now “very ill” with head and hand injuries, Yunadi said.

“He can’t even get up yet. He can’t talk yet, it’s just his eyes – when he opens his eyes the ceiling swirls in circles.”

The lawyer said armed KPK officers were guarding Novanto and had ignored requests to leave.

Novanto was taken to a second hospital on Friday for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, media reported.

Novanto gained a measure of international fame in September 2015 when then U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump hailed the Indonesian politician as a “great man” during a news conference.

“Do they like me in Indonesia?” Trump asked after introducing Novanto to reporters at Trump Tower.

“Yes, highly,” Novanto replied.

‘FACE LEGAL PROCESS’

Indonesian newspapers splashed pictures across their front pages of a black sport utility vehicle that Novanto was said to have been traveling in.

It was resting against an electricity pole, and appeared to have suffered only minor damage to the front fender.

Febri Diansyah, a KPK spokesman, said on Thursday the crash happened shortly after the agency had asked the national police chief and Interpol to place Novanto on a wanted list.  

The KPK would liaise with doctors to see if Novanto was “fit to stand trial” and would continue its investigation, Febri told Inews TV.

Yunadi has said a request for another pre-trial motion had been filed on behalf of his client.

President Joko Widodo on Friday urged Novanto, a political ally, to “follow the legal process”. Previously, Widodo has backed the KPK against efforts by some members of parliament to weaken the independent agency’s powers.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is also a Golkar member, told reporters on Thursday Novanto should be ready to face any legal process if called upon.

Indonesians widely perceive parliament as one of their country’s most corrupt institutions, Transparency International says.

(Additional reporting by Augstinus Beo Da Costa and Kartika; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Robert Birsel)

November 18, 2017

TIMIKA, Indonesia (Reuters) – U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc is evacuating spouses and children of workers from its giant Indonesian copper mine after a string of shootings in the area raised security concerns.

The move follows efforts by Indonesian authorities on Friday to evacuate villages near Freeport’s Grasberg mine in the eastern province of Papua that authorities said had been occupied by armed separatists.

Since August at least 12 people have been injured and two police officers have been killed by gunmen with suspected links to separatist rebels.

Freeport has asked family and household members of its employees to prepare over the weekend for a temporary relocation from the mining town of Tembagapura, about 10 km (6.2 miles) from Grasberg, company sources said. Workers have been asked to stay behind and maintain their work schedule, they said.

Details of the evacuation or the number of people impacted were not immediately clear. Shots were fired at a light vehicle and two large mining trucks were set on fire at Grasberg on Saturday, one of the sources said. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Freeport in a statement on Saturday confirmed the evacuation plan and said it will be carried out immediately.

“We are working closely with government and law enforcement to ensure the safety of our people and those in the communities we support, and to bring about the return of peace and stability as soon as possible,” it said.

Grasberg is the world’s second-largest copper mine by volume.

The separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM) says it is at war with Indonesian authorities and wants to “destroy” Freeport in an effort to gain sovereignty for the region.

TPN-OPM has claimed responsibility for the shootings but denies police allegations it took civilian hostages.

(Reporting by Sam Wanda in TIMIKA; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy and Fergus Jensen in JAKARTA; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

November 20, 2017

By Fransiska Nangoy and Fergus Jensen

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliament speaker, Setya Novanto, has been taken into custody by the anti-corruption agency after being arrested over his alleged role in causing state losses of $170 million linked to a national electronic identity card scheme.

Novanto, clad in an orange vest worn by detainees of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was transferred from a hospital on Sunday night into a KPK detention facility.

He is one of the most senior politicians to be detained by the agency, popular among ordinary Indonesians for targeting members of the establishment suspected of abuse of power.

Novanto was arrested on Friday night but his detention was postponed while he received treatment for injuries suffered in a car crash the day before.

“Delay of the arrest is no longer needed,” as a medical statement showed Novanto did not need further hospital treatment, Laode Muhammad Syarif, the deputy head of the agency, said in a video on its official Periscope page.

On Sunday night, Novanto told reporters he was still suffering from vertigo after the crash that he said had injured a leg, an arm and his head.

“I thought I would be given time for recovery, but I obey the law,” Novanto was quoted by news website Kumparan.com as saying.

Novanto will be held for 20 days for questioning, said KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah. He will be detained in a sparsely-furnished holding cell with some mattresses and a shared toilet.

Graft agency officials tried to arrest Novanto, the chairman of Golkar, Indonesia’s second-largest party and partner in the ruling coalition, at his house in Jakarta late on Wednesday.

But they failed to find him, sparking speculation that he had gone into hiding.

Later, Novanto was involved in a car accident and his lawyer, Fredrich Yunadi, said a journalist was driving the vehicle and interviewing his client at the time.

The car crash was found to be an accident, media cited Jakarta’s deputy director of traffic police as saying, dismissing speculation that the mishap was staged.

FBI HELPING INVESTIGATION

Novanto has denied wrongdoing but has repeatedly missed summonses for questioning by the agency in recent months, saying he was ill and needed heart surgery.

The agency is investigating state losses of about $170 million after allegations that sums ranging from $5,000 to $5.5 million, generated by marking up procurement costs for the ID cards, were divided up among politicians in parliament.

Novanto was named a suspect on Nov. 10 again after he had used a controversial legal maneuver, a pre-trial motion, to get earlier charges dropped last month.

President Joko Widodo told reporters on Monday that he had asked Novanto to “follow the legal process”.

The KPK has been collaborating with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case, said agency spokesman Diansyah.

The FBI has been investigating the activities of Johannes Marliem, a U.S.-based contractor for the ID card scheme, who later committed suicide in Los Angeles.

The parliament speaker’s legal battle with the graft agency has gripped Indonesia, with newspaper front pages splashing the story and social media circulating memes mocking him.

Novanto gained a measure of international fame in September 2015 when Donald Trump, then a U.S. presidential candidate, hailed him as a “great man” at a news conference.

“Do they like me in Indonesia?” Trump asked after introducing Novanto to reporters at Trump Tower.

“Yes, highly,” Novanto replied.

(Additional reporting by Kartika; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Richard Pullin and Clarence Fernandez)

December 22, 2017

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo will on Friday hold his cabinet meeting on the holiday island of Bali in a bid to reassure visitors that there is nothing to worry about from the rumbling Mount Agung volcano.

Authorities last month raised the alert status of Mount Agung in northeastern Bali to the highest level, imposing an exclusion zone of up to 10 km (6 miles) around its crater as it spewed clouds of ash, steam, and other volcanic material.

Widodo will take the unusual step of gathering his cabinet in Bali as part of government efforts to assure visitors that the island is safe to come to and to stave off a major drop off in visitor numbers during the upcoming holiday season.

“For those who have plans to vacation in Bali, there’s no need to doubt or be worried about the status of Mount Agung, Bali is very safe to visit,” Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan said in a Twitter message after visiting an observatory overlooking the volcano, before the cabinet meeting.

President Widodo is expected to make a statement after the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet usually meets at the state palace in the capital Jakarta or on its outskirts in Bogor.

The relatively small island of Bali, famous for its beaches and temples, has an outsized importance for Indonesian tourism. In January-September, Bali received 4.5 million foreign tourist arrivals, nearly half of the 10.5 million arrivals in Indonesia.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said this week that Indonesia was expecting an estimated 15 trillion rupiah ($1.11 billion) in lost income and around 1 million fewer tourists because of the volcano, according to daily newspaper Kompas.

Many business operators and hotels have seen cancellations since authorities first raised the alert in September, and most expect the holiday season to be slower than in previous years.

Thousands of tourists were left stranded late last month when a volcanic ash cloud forced the closure of Bali’s airport for several days.

Countries like Australia and Singapore have advised their citizens to be cautious when traveling to Bali.

(Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Michael Perry)

January 2, 2018

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian investment board chief Thomas Lembong said on Tuesday that 2018 direct investment growth is targeted to grow at around 10-14 percent.

Lembong told reporters he expects the e-commerce sector and services sector would help boost investment growth in 2018, as these usually can expand by up to 80 percent and 40 percent per year, respectively.

For 2017, Indonesia had set a target of about 11 percent expansion. Data on full-year 2017 is not yet available.

(Reporting by Cindy Silviana; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Richard Borsuk)

January 4, 2018

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia shrank the exclusion zone around a grumbling volcano on the resort island of Bali on Thursday after fears of an imminent eruption, allowing farmers to return to their homes.

The 3,000-meter Mount Agung remains on alert for a major eruption, but officials said the danger zone around the crater would be reduced to a six-km (four-mile) radius from 10 km.

“Mount Agung remains in an eruption phase and could affect settlements. All parties are urged to remain cautious,” Agung Pribadi, press relations officer at the natural resources ministry, said in a statement.

The volcano has been spewing lava and ash since late November, when authorities raised the alert status to the highest.

Bali airport was closed for three days, leaving thousands of tourists stranded and prompting others to cancel their year-end holiday plans.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Nick Macfie)

January 5, 2018

By Kanupriya Kapoor

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s recently established cyber security agency will recruit hundreds of personnel in the coming months, its chief said on Friday.

The agency has been set up amid rising concern over online misinformation and hoaxes ahead of simultaneous local elections set to take place across the country later this year. The head of the National Cyber and Encryption Agency, Djoko Setiadi, who was sworn in this week, will report directly to President Joko Widodo.

“We need a lot of human resources so we plan to recruit hundreds of people soon, including graduates of our technological institutes and anyone who has the cyber skills and integrity we are looking for,” Setiadi told reporters.

“Our responsibility is to provide protection in the cyber world to government institutions, even private companies, but most importantly to the public,” he said at a news briefing in south Jakarta.

The agency will track cyber crimes and identify perpetrators, but it remains unclear whether it will have the authority to prosecute crimes.”We will be coordinating with the police, military, and other institutions with cyber capabilities on the information we check,” Setiadi added.

The agency’s budget is to be announced this month, following discussions with parliament.

(Additional reporting by Jessica Damiana; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

January 10, 2018

By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor <005380.KS> said it is considering building a car plant in Southeast Asia with Indonesia and Vietnam possible locations – part of efforts to diversify after a sales slump in China.

The automaker does not have a car manufacturing factory in Southeast Asia, although it has some pure assembly operations in Indonesia and Vietnam where cars are made from “knock-down” kits comprised of major component groups.

A diplomatic row between Beijing and Seoul last year over the South Korea’s planned deployment of U.S. anti-missile defense system THAAD has hurt Hyundai and other South Korean firms that are highly reliant on the Chinese market.

Hyundai expects its China sales to reach about 900,000 vehicles in 2018, a recovery from levels last year, vice chairman and heir apparent Chung Eui-sun also said on the sidelines of the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, according to a company spokeswoman.

Hyundai has not disclosed estimates for 2017 China sales but sales of 900,000 would still be far below its production capacity of 1.65 million vehicles in its biggest market. Chung added that Hyundai is planning to enter China’s fuel cell electric car market, after the automaker unveiled its new fuel cell electric vehicle, NEXO, with an estimated driving range of 370 miles, at the show.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

January 10, 2018

By TABITA DIELA

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s finance minister, pledging steady support for investment and exports, said on Wednesday the government won’t be distracted from its economic reform program by provincial elections this year.

In 2018, Indonesia is due to hold scores of provincial elections, ahead of a presidential vote in 2019. The local elections have caused some concern that a heated political environment could hamper efforts by President Joko Widodo’s administration to push through reforms.

In a note on the 2018 outlook for Asia-Pacific sovereign credits, Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday that in India and Indonesia, regional elections are “likely to slow down any reform momentum”.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati expressed disagreement with that view.

“I want to point out that any reasoning that says this year the government will be distracted and not push through its reform programs, that is wrong,” she told reporters.

Last year, a bruising election for governor of the capital Jakarta saw political and religious tensions in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country hit the highest in decades.

Indrawati said the government “is now sitting together, coordinating (and) collaborating to make concrete improvements in investment and to support exports”.

She said there was a change of “mindset” to resolve problems facing investors and noted that authorities were also addressing issues faced by small and medium enterprises in paying taxes.

“Procedures will be easier, the terms will be simpler and everything can be done digitally,” she said.

The government has also rolled out a series of regulatory changes intended to encourage foreign investment and reduce the dependence on private consumption. Among them are steps to ease working with Indonesia’s notorious bureaucracy.

However, cutting red tape has proved difficult. Last year, Widodo told off cabinet ministers for issuing regulations that will “add to bureaucracy and increase complications” for businesses wanting to expand or invest.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 12 percent in the third quarter of 2017 from a year earlier in rupiah terms, compared with a 10.6 percent annual increase in April-June.

The government has made progress in building infrastructure, although sluggish growth in consumption and bank lending has meant policymakers have struggled to push economic growth significantly above 5 percent in recent years.

(Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Ed Davies and Richard Borsuk)

January 16, 2018

JAKARTA (Reuters) – A huge fire destroyed most of a Dutch colonial heritage site dating back to the 17th century, including a maritime museum, in the north of the capital Jakarta on Tuesday.

Television images showed flames ripping through the red-tiled roof of the whitewashed rectangular buildings. No casualties were reported.

“Most of the building…was on fire,” the city fire department said on its website.

“The Bahari Museum is being cooled down,” it said on its official Twitter account. “The cause of the fire is still unknown.”

The buildings used to be warehouses owned by the Dutch East India Company and were used to store highly sought-after spices and other commodities like tea and coffee.

In 1976, 31 years after Indonesia declared independence from the Dutch, the buildings were turned into a museum displaying nautical vessels, tools, maps and other items commemorating the fact that Indonesia is an archipelago of over 17,000 islands and that its territory is two-thirds water.

The Indonesian Heritage Society said it was too early to comment on the scale of damage and any restoration work.

“It’s certainly a great loss not only because of the contents of the museum but because of historic nature of the building and the whole Old Town area,” said Isla Winarto, president of the organization.

“We hope the museum can be restored to its original glory in the not too distant future.”

(Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor and Jessica Damiana; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Nick Macfie)