Comments on other issues

Bin Laden’s No. 2:

June 9, Online

Osama bin Laden’s deputy warned Wednesday that America faces not individual terrorists or groups but an international community of Muslims that seek to destroy it and its allies. He was delivering a 28-minute videotaped eulogy to slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaeda’s longtime No. 2 and considered the network’s operational head, also sought to cast a role for the terror group in the popular uprisings shaking the Arab world.

“Today, praise God, America is not facing an individual, a group or a faction,” he said, wearing a white robe and turban with an assault rifle leaned on a wall behind him. “It is facing a nation than is in revolt, having risen from its lethargy to a renaissance of jihad.”

Your comments:

Look at who is talking: Al-Zawahri, the man who got the gift of
healing from God and became a doctor. But then he threw this — God’s gift — away and became a professional murderer. His talk is empty and vain!

Peter
Germany

You know if we all go back to our original texts and followed them with our hearts, not all the manmade things that have been added over the ages for political or other purposes, Jews, Christians and Muslims would probably get along really well, how nice would that be?

We’d probably have great respect and love for each other all as
children of the one and only true living God.

Rob K
Australia

In the US there is already quite a lot of hatred for Muslims and this outburst will only make things worse for any moderate Muslims living there. On the one hand they claim that Islam is a religion of peace and then rant about destroying everyone else. Think they need a public relations department.

Sheldon
Probolinggo, Eats Java

What is going on with people today? Why can’t we get along? Live peacefully? Why are these so-called religious people so bloodthirsty
and claim to be so in the name of their “God”?

Terrorize other people and refuse to be called a terrorist? Is world peace out of the question? Soon, the word “peace” will be taken out of our dictionary. God help us.

Jerry
Jakarta

Tough prosecutor facing 20 years

June 7, p. 2

Prosecutor Cirus Sinaga was indicted on Monday for extortion and obstruction of justice in a case involving Gayus H. Tambunan, the rogue former taxman who claimed to have bribed a number of law enforcers to escape justice.

Prosecutors at the Jakarta Corruption Court slapped Cirus with multiple charges, including illegally ruling out a corruption charge against Gayus, who was then believed to have amassed millions of dollars in illegal wealth.

Your comments:

How could Gayus be anything but criminally corrupt? He harvested huge sums of money from clients so they didn’t have to pay (a larger amount) of taxes. What better example of corruption is there?

The Gayus case is running according to tradition. Lift one stone and there are many frogs hiding underneath. Corruption seems to be endemic and contagious — it is not just the criminals that come before the courts but it seems also judges, prosecutors and police are equally a part of the “Corruption Industry”.

They all want “a part of the (financial) action”. Greed corrupts. Lest we forget, there are a whole lot of other criminals in the
Gayus case that have not yet been named or brought before the courts; those numerous corrupt taxpayers who were prepared to pay Gayus to “fix” their tax responsibilities — i.e., avoid paying tax.

They are as criminally corrupt as Gayus but the word seems to be that there are some “important people” among Gayus’s clients that would be embarrassed if identified. It looks increasingly like they are being protected by the police and will be allowed to continue to hide their guilt.

I am sure that if Gayus’ sentence was increased to 20 years he would soon be able to identify his clients.

But, we can be confident that that won’t happen and Gayus will be given reductions and remissions
so as not to provoke him into
naming names.

Nairdah
Sydney

One should actually avoid giving an opinion on a legal case when it is in the process of being tried at court. Yet, if the opinion is not a mere opinion but is a scientific one, the opinion is justifiable.

Prosecutor Cirus Sinaga was indicted for extortion and obstruction of justice in a case involving Gayus H. Tambunan. Gayus himself has already been imprisoned for his guilt in the same bribery case.

In addition there have been four other convicts who have also been imprisoned.

They are a district court judge, two police officers and a lawyer.

Given the court’s decision to punish the other four people above, it will be weird if Cirus Sinaga is eventually found not guilty and freed of all charges.

District court rulings are not yet final and binding decisions. A party in the case who is not satisfied with the district court’s decision still has the right to file a memorandum of appeal with the High Court and finally to file the same memorandum to the Supreme Court.

It is the Supreme Court’s decision that is final and binding. So, we have to wait until the Supreme Court issues its final ruling. Only then we will see whether or not justice is done.

Dadut Priyambodo
Jakarta