ASIA / PACIFIC
September 18, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
Top Indonesian judge gets
eight years for corruption
CONTENTIOUS BANNER. Students walk beneath a black banner reading “Hong Kong Independence” in
Chinese at the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus in Hong Kong. Banners supporting independence for
Chinese-controlled Hong Kong appeared on the campus at the start of classes, rekindling tensions over free
speech in the semiautonomous city. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Independence banners on
Hong Kong campus renew tensions
HONG KONG (AP) — Banners support-
ing independence for Chinese-controlled
Hong Kong appeared on a university
campus at the start of classes, rekindling
tensions over free speech in the
semiautonomous city.
The black banners declaring “Hong
Kong Independence” in English and
Chinese were put up around the Chinese
University of Hong Kong campus.
The school quickly took them down but
more were put up a day later, according to
local media reports.
One had remained strung up over a busy
central square in early September. Posters
on a nearby wall said, “Fight for our home-
land. Fight for Hong Kong independence.”
It’s unclear who was responsible, but
student leaders have been wrangling with
the university administration to keep
them up.
University officials say the banners are
illegal while the student union says they
should be allowed to discuss current
issues.
Hong Kong, a former British colony,
maintains civil liberties unseen on
mainland China, including freedom of
speech following its 1997 handover, but
many residents fear Beijing is tightening
its grip.
Young activists started promoting the
once-unthinkable notion of independence
from mainland China after massive
pro-democracy protests ended without res-
olution in 2014. There’s almost no chance
of success, but their ideas have alarmed
China’s Communist leaders in Beijing.
Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed govern-
ment has clamped down on such senti-
ment, including using the courts to get two
newly elected pro-independence law-
makers disqualified from office last year
for making improper oaths of office.
JAKARTA,
Indonesia
(AP)
—
Indonesia’s
corruption
court
has
sentenced one of the country’s top judges to
eight years in prison for taking bribes, the
second time a constitutional court judge
has been imprisoned for bribery since
2014.
A five-member panel of judges ruled that
Patrialis Akbar was guilty of receiving
thousands of dollars from a meat importer
to influence the outcome of a judicial
review of the law on animal husbandry.
Akbar was caught in an anti-graft sting
in January, Indonesia’s anti-corruption
police say.
Akbar, a law and human-rights minister
under former President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, denied any wrongdoing. After
the sentencing, he said it was up to god to
decide what was right and wrong.
The meat importer, Basuki Hariman,
was earlier sentenced to seven years in
prison and his secretary, Ng Fay, received
five years.
The judges said Akbar received $10,000
in expenses to perform minor hajj and
about $300 for golf expenses. The panel
also fined Akbar $22,500 or a further three
months in prison.
CORRUPTION COURT. Constitutional court
judge Patrialis Akbar is escorted by security officers
after his sentencing hearing at the corruption court in
Jakarta, Indonesia. The court sentenced Akbar, one of
the country’s top judges, to eight years in prison for
receiving thousands of dollars from a meat importer
to influence the outcome of a judicial review of the law
on animal husbandry. (AP Photo)
In 2014, Akil Mohtar, the former
chairman of the nine-member panel of
judges of the constitutional court, was
sentenced to life in prison for accepting
bribes. Mohtar also was caught by the
Corruption Eradication Commission.
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