VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Germany’s U.N. envoy, during his last scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting, appealed to China to free two detained Canadians for Christmas, prompting China’s deputy U.N. envoy to respond: “Out of the bottom of my heart: Good riddance.”

Germany finishes a two-year term on the 15-member council at the end of this month and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen plans to retire after more than 40 years as a diplomat.

“Let me end my tenure on the Security Council by appealing to my Chinese colleagues to ask Beijing for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Christmas is the right moment for such a gesture,” Heusgen told the council session, whose official agenda topic was Iran.

Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who was working as an adviser for the International Crisis Group think tank, and businessman Spavor were detained by Beijing in 2018 shortly after Canadian police picked up Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. warrant.

China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, accused Heusgen of abusing the Security Council to launch “malicious” attacks on other members “in an attempt to poison the working atmosphere”.

“I wish to say something out of the bottom of my heart: Good riddance, Ambassador Heusgen,” Geng said. “I am hoping that the council in your absence in the year 2021 will be in a better position to fulfill the responsibilities...for maintaining international peace and security.”

Heusgen also used the Security Council meeting to advise Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, to read certain articles about Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who said he had tricked a Russian secret agent into disclosing details of a botched plot to kill him. Russia’s FSB security service dismissed the recording as a fake.

Polyanskiy replied: “It seems he’s developed a certain dependency on the council, there’s never a meeting without criticism of Russia even if that’s not suitable for the subject matter. I hope that after Jan. 1 that Christoph’s symptoms will improve.” (reuters)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called a meeting of members for Wednesday to discuss strategies to counter a new, more infectious variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in Britain.

A spokeswoman said the meeting was designed to help with information-sharing.

“Limiting travel to contain spread is prudent until we have better info,” Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, tweeted.

However, the Geneva-based body has cautioned against major alarm over the variant, saying it is a normal part of a pandemic’s evolution and praising Britain for detecting it.

As trucks barred from entering France backed up along miles of motorway in southern England, the WHO also said in a statement that cargo transport for essential supplies such as food, medicines, and fuel should be prioritized and facilitated.

“Supply chains for essential goods & essential travel should remain possible,” Kluge tweeted.

Drugmakers including BioNTech and Moderna are scrambling to test their COVID-19 vaccines against the new variant.

The WHO repeated that there was not yet enough information to determine whether the new variant could affect vaccine efficacy. (reuters)

The Indonesian Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 detained 228 terror suspects in 2020, Police Chief Gen. Idham Azis stated.

"In 2020, the Indonesian Police succeeded in preventing acts of terrorism in Indonesia and arrested 228 suspects," Azis noted in a year-end statement here on Tuesday.

Among the cases under the public spotlight were the arrests of 23 terror suspects, members of the Jamaah Islamiyah, including Upik Lawanga and Zulkarnain, during the period from November to December 2020.

Lawanga was a fugitive for 14 years. He was allegedly involved in the bombings at the Poso Sport Center, Tentena, Poso Central Market, in South Sulawesi and some other terror acts during the period from 2004 to 2006.

Zulkarnain was a fugitive for 19 years. He was allegedly involved in the Bali bombing and was an expert in assembling high-explosive bombs and firearms as well as possessed other military skills.

"The latest was the arrest of JI group members Upik Lawanga and Zulkarnain that were placed on the wanted list (DPO) for years when I was an adjunct senior commissioner (AKBP). I have chased them in Poso," he stated. (antaranews)

Chief of the National Narcotics Agency Office in East Java Province (BNNP) Brigadier General Idris Kadir has turned down a discourse on legalizing hashish in Indonesia.

"The polemic on the legalization of hashish has emerged. As a law enforcement agency, we have an obstacle. It has been misconstrued, so it becomes legal," he stated here on Monday.

The United Nations has approved the World Health Organization’s (WHO's) recommendation to eliminate hashish from the category of the most dangerous drugs in the world and to use it for medical purposes.

Kadir noted that several countries have legalized hashish. The issue surfaced in Indonesia when a politician from the westernmost Indonesian province of Aceh proposed to declare an export commodity.

"However, BNN (the National Narcotics Agency) opined that narcotics remains unjustified. Moreover, hashish that originates from Indonesia, particularly Aceh, is of better quality when tested at the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol chemical) laboratory," he stated.

In early 2019, the WHO once recommended the legalization of hashish for medical purposes under the strict control.

Several countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, Denmark, Australia, and Thailand, have legalized the use of hashish for medical purposes. (antaranews)