VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

BOGOR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia released from prison on Friday Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, as authorities said the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings would enter a deradicalisation programme amid concerns over his continued influence in extremist circles.

Bashir was picked up by his family and was being driven to his home in central Java, said a spokeswoman for the corrections directorate general at the law and human rights ministry.

Photographs showed him wearing a white robe, white cap and a face mask as he left the prison in Bogor, south of Jakarta.

“Abu Bakar Bashir was released from Gunung Sindur prison at 5.30 am,” spokeswoman Rika Aprianti told reporters, adding that he was healthy on his departure.

Bashir, 82, who is regarded as the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a jihadist network with ties to al Qaeda, was imprisoned in 2011 for 15 years for his links to a militant training camp in Aceh province.

After receiving periodic reductions in his jail term, he served 10 years in prison.

Although Indonesian police and Western intelligence agencies say Bashir was linked to the Bali attacks that killed 202 people and a 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta, he was never convicted for them and denied those ties.

Zulkarnaen, a man believed to be one of the most senior members of JI and involved in making the bombs for the attacks, was arrested last month.

The Bali bombings killed 88 Australians, and the country’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, said this week Indonesia must ensure Bashir does not incite more violence.

Thiolina Marpaung, an Indonesian wounded in the 2002 attacks, said she wanted authorities to keep supervising Bashir.

“We don’t know what he was doing in prison,” she said by telephone. “The government has to still assert control over terrorism actors in Indonesia who have been out of jail.”

Bashir pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2014 while in jail.

Eddy Hartono of Indonesia’s anti-terrorism agency said Bashir would now undergo a deradicalization programme.

“We’re hoping Abu Bakar Bashir after he’s free can give peaceful, soothing preachings,” he said in a statement.

In the wake of the Bali attacks and with backing from Australia and the United States, Indonesia set up an elite anti-terrorist unit that weakened JI and resulted in scores of suspected militants being arrested or killed.

But other extremist groups have since formed and conducted attacks in the world’s biggest Muslim majority country while only last month police arrested 23 militants, including Zulkarnaen.

Abdul Rohim, Bashir’s son, told Reuters ahead of the release that his father would return to the Al Mukmin Islamic boarding school near Solo in Central Java province, which Bashir founded in the 1970s and whose graduates in the past have been linked to militant networks and attacks.

“He has completed his term. This is purely over,” Rohim said, adding that he would conduct Islamic preaching.

Security analysts say that although Bashir does not wield as much power over JI or other groups, he could still influence other militants.

“Bashir is an ideologue, his words will be followed and made examples of,” said analyst Stanislaus Riyanta. (reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified, could be around three times the official figure, according to a study by Chinese researchers based in the city.

The paper, published by the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal on Thursday, analysed blood samples from more than 60,000 healthy individuals taken from locations across China from March to May 2020.

It found that 1.68% of those from Wuhan contained antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared to 0.59% in surrounding Hubei province and 0.38% in the rest of China.

With the city’s total population at more than 10 million, the researchers estimated that as many as 168,000 Wuhan residents were infected with the virus, compared to the official number of 50,340 hospitalised cases.

The study suggested at least two thirds of the total number were asymptomatic, and thousands could have been infected after the “elimination” of clinical cases, raising the possibility the virus could exist in a community for a long period without causing hospitalisations.

A separate study published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late last month put the “seroprevalence” rate in Wuhan, the percentage of the population with antibodies, even higher at 4.43%, implying that around half a million people in the city could have been infected.

COVID-19 was identified in Wuhan at the end of 2019, with the first outbreak associated with a seafood market in the city. China finally locked down Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province on Jan. 23, 2020, but critics say it should have acted sooner.

China has dismissed criticism of its early handling of the virus, and officials now point to overseas studies suggesting it was circulating in Europe several months before the Wuhan outbreak.

A 10-strong team from the World Health Organization was due to arrive in China this week to investigate the origins of COVID-19, but they have yet to be been given authorisation to enter the country.

Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to date in mainland China now stands at 87,331, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634. (reuters)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received his first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, and urged others to take the jabs in a country that has largely brought the pandemic under control.

The 68-year-old shared a video of himself on his official Facebook page being injected in the arm at a local hospital.

Singapore has so far only approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine but has said it has secured enough doses for its 5.7 million population including from other vaccine-makers like Moderna and Sinovac.

“We got vaccinated early to show Singaporeans we are confident that the vaccine is safe and effective,” Lee said in a post accompanying the video, adding that he had been vaccinated alongside the country’s top health official, Kenneth Mak.

The rich island nation did some initial vaccinations of healthcare workers at the end of December. But Lee said broader vaccinations of staff at public healthcare institutions would start on Friday, followed by the elderly next month.

Government studies show nearly 60% of people are willing to be vaccinated, the health ministry has said. But the plans have stirred rare hesitancy among some due to the low risk of infection in Singapore and concern about any possible side effects from rapidly developed vaccines.

Unlike other countries that have embarked on mass vaccination programmes like the United States and Britain, the Southeast Asian island has largely eradicated the disease and has reported only a handful of local cases in recent months.

“Vaccinations are voluntary, but I hope that when it’s your turn, you will go for it,” Lee said, adding that he had been monitored for 30 minutes after the jab for any possible side effects and “felt fine”.

Authorities have said they will consider relaxing travel restrictions for people who have been vaccinated against the disease which has killed around 1.9 million people globally. (reuters)

The Indonesian government is preparing to renegotiate a 35 thousand-megawatt, or 35 Gigawatt, power plant project which has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government remains committed to implementing the mega project for which contracts have been signed, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Arifin Tasrif, said here on Thursday.

"Of course, we must fulfill the commitment to the 35 GW project whose contracts have been signed. For instance, we are trying to renegotiate the project. All sides have been affected by COVID-19," he said.

Arifin said demand for electrical power fell during the pandemic. The low demand for power also had an impact on electricity sales of state-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), he added.

He expressed the hope that demand for electrical power will recover this year.

To push power demand, he said, the government will adopt a number of strategies, including encouraging the use of battery-based electrical motor vehicles, both four-wheeled and two-wheeled, and the use of electrical stoves.

"We must improve the use of our transmissions to supply electrical power to regions that are currently running short of electrical power," he said.

The government will also scrap the use of diesel-fueled electricity generators.

"Admittedly, we must expedite the installation of transmission infrastructure so that we can replace high electricity supply cost in several regions with low electricity supply cost and the total cost will decline accordingly," he said.

As of August, 2020, the realized operational capacity of the 35 thousand-MW power plant project reached 24 percent, or 8,400 MW. In addition to the mega project, there is a carry-over of seven thousand MW from the previous program, the minister informed.

Both the 35 thousand MW power plants and seven thousand MW power plants are scheduled for completion in 2023. (antaranews)