The week in review: Different punishments
Firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and Surabaya-based housewife Siami share a similarity: both received “punishment”, but for different reasons.
Ba’asyir was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday after he was found guilty of involvement in planning, setting up and masterminding a terrorist training camp in Jantho, Aceh, which was raided by the police in early 2010.
The verdict was much lower than the prosecutor’s demand of a life sentence. The 72-year-old Ba’asyir, disappointed upon hearing the verdict, immediately appealed, saying he had been “mistreated”. He rejected the verdict, saying it was not based on Islamic law, but, added, rather on laws made by infidels. Ba’asyir also accused the government of fabricating his charges “to please the United States”.
Thursday’s verdict was highly anticipated not only by Indonesians, but also the international community. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd praised the sentence, saying Ba’asyir’s arrest and prosecution “were the result of effective work by Indonesian authorities”.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), however, responded by stressing it would shift its focus to the prison system in a bid to limit Ba’asyir’s ability to recruit inmates as his followers and worse, to contact his network outside. The lack of law enforcement inside prisons, as well as the absence of deradicalization programs for convicted terrorists, have partly been blamed for making prisons breeding grounds for terrorism.
It was the third attempt to try Ba’asyir. In the first two trials, Ba’asyir was given lenient sentences for immigration offenses.
Meanwhile, Siami was “punished” by her neighbors and fellow parents for telling the truth. Siami, whose son had been pressured by his elementary school teachers to help schoolmates pass the final exam, was forced to leave her house following strong opposition from the parents and neighbors who considered her action a disgrace to the school.
It was unfortunate that National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh denied the allegations, saying there was no evidence of mass cheating on the national exams. He even urged the public not to overreact to the issue.
Siami eventually got an offer from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is currently on a state visit to Japan, to visit the presidential palace soon to discuss the issue. She was also invited to a meeting with Corruption Eradication Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
The case is an illustration of the country’s ironic education system. A national-standardized exam that serves as the final test for students to graduate from school turns into a collective cheating arena. It was not the first case, but many have turned a blind eye to it because should many students fail to pass, a school’s reputation, along with its principal’s and teachers’, is at stake.
The case also shows that education stakeholders in the country seem to forget the importance of teaching our children moral values rather than giving them good grades dishonestly earned. Such a mentality will, in the end, result in our future generation getting used to cheating, which may ultimately lead them to corruption.
***
In the fight against corruption, the Corruption Court handed down verdicts on several politicians in the past week.
On Thursday, the court handed verdicts to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians found guilty of receiving bribes in the 2004 election of a central bank senior deputy governor.
Former PDI-P lawmaker and whistle-blower Agus Condro was sentenced to 15 months in jail, while Max Moein and Rusman Lumbantoruan were each sentenced to 20 months in jail and Willem Max Tutuarima received 18 months.
The key figure in the case, Nunun Nurbaeti, the wife of former National Police deputy chief Adang Daradjatun, however, remains on the run. She is suspected of distributing bribes in the form of travelers’ checks to dozens of former and current lawmakers for their support of Miranda S. Goeltom in the 2004 election.
In a related development, President Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party is under public scrutiny after its ousted treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin failed to show up after being summonsed by the KPK.
Nazaruddin, allegedly involved in corruption related to the construction of a SEA Games athletes’ village in Palembang, South Sumatra, is also linked to other corruption and bribery cases. He is believed to be in Singapore.
***
As Jakarta will be 484 years old on June 22, many festivities have been staged to mark the anniversary. The annual Jakarta Fair and Jakarta Great Sale are among events to be held by the city administration.
It is sad to see that as an old city and the country’s capital, Jakarta still fails to deal with basic problems, particularly traffic jams. In the absence of a comfortable massive transportation system, Jakartans still rely on private cars to travel.
Governor Fauzi Bowo, whose tenure will end next year, has said that his administration would expand the busway network to neighboring towns, including Bekasi and Tangerang. Apart from the busway, Jakarta will also work with related parties, including state firm PT Kereta Api, to revitalize the railway network as the backbone of the mass transportation system.
It is high time that Jakarta had a better mass transportation system. Hopefully, whoever wins next year’s gubernatorial election will not win due to campaign promises that do not result in real action.
Ba’asyir was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday after he was found guilty of involvement in planning, setting up and masterminding a terrorist training camp in Jantho, Aceh, which was raided by the police in early 2010.
The verdict was much lower than the prosecutor’s demand of a life sentence. The 72-year-old Ba’asyir, disappointed upon hearing the verdict, immediately appealed, saying he had been “mistreated”. He rejected the verdict, saying it was not based on Islamic law, but, added, rather on laws made by infidels. Ba’asyir also accused the government of fabricating his charges “to please the United States”.
Thursday’s verdict was highly anticipated not only by Indonesians, but also the international community. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd praised the sentence, saying Ba’asyir’s arrest and prosecution “were the result of effective work by Indonesian authorities”.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), however, responded by stressing it would shift its focus to the prison system in a bid to limit Ba’asyir’s ability to recruit inmates as his followers and worse, to contact his network outside. The lack of law enforcement inside prisons, as well as the absence of deradicalization programs for convicted terrorists, have partly been blamed for making prisons breeding grounds for terrorism.
It was the third attempt to try Ba’asyir. In the first two trials, Ba’asyir was given lenient sentences for immigration offenses.
Meanwhile, Siami was “punished” by her neighbors and fellow parents for telling the truth. Siami, whose son had been pressured by his elementary school teachers to help schoolmates pass the final exam, was forced to leave her house following strong opposition from the parents and neighbors who considered her action a disgrace to the school.
It was unfortunate that National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh denied the allegations, saying there was no evidence of mass cheating on the national exams. He even urged the public not to overreact to the issue.
Siami eventually got an offer from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is currently on a state visit to Japan, to visit the presidential palace soon to discuss the issue. She was also invited to a meeting with Corruption Eradication Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
The case is an illustration of the country’s ironic education system. A national-standardized exam that serves as the final test for students to graduate from school turns into a collective cheating arena. It was not the first case, but many have turned a blind eye to it because should many students fail to pass, a school’s reputation, along with its principal’s and teachers’, is at stake.
The case also shows that education stakeholders in the country seem to forget the importance of teaching our children moral values rather than giving them good grades dishonestly earned. Such a mentality will, in the end, result in our future generation getting used to cheating, which may ultimately lead them to corruption.
***
In the fight against corruption, the Corruption Court handed down verdicts on several politicians in the past week.
On Thursday, the court handed verdicts to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians found guilty of receiving bribes in the 2004 election of a central bank senior deputy governor.
Former PDI-P lawmaker and whistle-blower Agus Condro was sentenced to 15 months in jail, while Max Moein and Rusman Lumbantoruan were each sentenced to 20 months in jail and Willem Max Tutuarima received 18 months.
The key figure in the case, Nunun Nurbaeti, the wife of former National Police deputy chief Adang Daradjatun, however, remains on the run. She is suspected of distributing bribes in the form of travelers’ checks to dozens of former and current lawmakers for their support of Miranda S. Goeltom in the 2004 election.
In a related development, President Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party is under public scrutiny after its ousted treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin failed to show up after being summonsed by the KPK.
Nazaruddin, allegedly involved in corruption related to the construction of a SEA Games athletes’ village in Palembang, South Sumatra, is also linked to other corruption and bribery cases. He is believed to be in Singapore.
***
As Jakarta will be 484 years old on June 22, many festivities have been staged to mark the anniversary. The annual Jakarta Fair and Jakarta Great Sale are among events to be held by the city administration.
It is sad to see that as an old city and the country’s capital, Jakarta still fails to deal with basic problems, particularly traffic jams. In the absence of a comfortable massive transportation system, Jakartans still rely on private cars to travel.
Governor Fauzi Bowo, whose tenure will end next year, has said that his administration would expand the busway network to neighboring towns, including Bekasi and Tangerang. Apart from the busway, Jakarta will also work with related parties, including state firm PT Kereta Api, to revitalize the railway network as the backbone of the mass transportation system.
It is high time that Jakarta had a better mass transportation system. Hopefully, whoever wins next year’s gubernatorial election will not win due to campaign promises that do not result in real action.
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