Local News Italian & French Men Arrested Over Huge Stash of Looted Temple Objects in Bali Police in Bali have arrested an Italian and a French national on suspicion of looting local treasures. Badung Police chief detective Adjutant Comr. Soma Adnyana stated on Tuesday (7/9) that they had found 110 sacred Hindu objects, known as pratima, in the residence of Roberto Gamba, 50, on Jalan Bumbuk, Kerobokan on Thursday ((2/9). Gamba has lived in Bali for more than 10 years and is a known collector, Adnyana said. Another 24 pratima were recovered from a Denpasar warehouse rented by Gamba on Monday night, he said. A second warehouse in Seminyak is yet to be searched. Adnyana said they had recovered sacks of ancient Balinese coins, antique kris (ceremonial daggers) and gold statues.He said the recovered items could be worth at least Rp 2 billion ($222,000).) A Frenchman believed to be the accomplice of the Italian national was recently arrested on suspicion of looting local treasures. Pascal Morabito, 65, was arrested on Monday (13/9) for the illegal possession of stuffed rare snakes and turtles and priceless figurines from temples. His arrest came 11 days after that of Italian Roberto Gamba, 50. Badung Police detective chief Adj. Comr. Soma Adnyana said on Monday that police had been tracking Morabito since Gamba’s arrest, during which they had seized stolen sacred Hindu objects known as pratima. “We suspected that Morabito was linked to the thefts of the pratima, which we unraveled days ago,” Adnyana said. Police had only learned about Morabito’s involvement after a raid on a warehouse owned by Gamba last Tuesday. Adnyana said that following marathon questioning, Gamba had indicated the involvement of the Frenchman. “Based on those interrogations, we raided a villa on Monday at about 10:30 a.m. rented by Morabito on Jalan Pantai
Berawa in North Kuta,” he said. “In this villa we found many of the figurines.” Following Morabito’s arrest and interrogation, police learned that he also used a rented room on Jalan Teuku Umar Barat in Denpasar to store artifacts and stuffed animals. “It was at this address that police found the 11 stuffed animals and sacred Hindu artifacts,” Adnyana said. “He has so far been charged under existing regulations covering cultural heritage. We have not yet declared him a suspect in the thefts of the items.” Adnyana added that Morabito had said the artifacts were acquired from several locations. Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko said that to date, police had named 6 suspects in connection with the thefts of the artifacts, including Gamba, the suspected suppliers, two Balinese men Gusti Lanang Sidemen, and art shop owner Koman Sukaya. “We believe that Gamba is involved in an international ring. We have seized his laptop computer,” Hadiatmoko said. He said police had not yet established how many temple thefts Gamba had masterminded, but said that up to 2008 police had recorded thefts from at least 34 temples across the island. The Italian reportedly told police that he had been collecting the objects from locals and from Jakarta since 2006 and denied suggestions that he knew the items were sacred and looted from temples. Police, however, are not amused. “He bought the pratima cheaply, for between Rp 500,000 [$56] and Rp 1 million,” Adnyana said. “The evidence strongly suggests that he is a dealer who buys stolen objects.” Adnyana said that the recovered items could be worth at least Rp. 2 billion. (September 13th 2010)
Key to Saving Tigers from Extinction is Focusing on Protecting Breeding Grounds: Study Conservationists must protect tiger populations in a few concentrated breeding grounds in Asia instead of trying to safeguard vast, surrounding landscapes, if they want to save the big cats from extinction, scientists said. Only about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild worldwide, less than one third of them breeding females, according to one of the authors of the study, John Robinson of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Much has been done to try to save the world’s largest cat - threatened by over-hunting, habitat loss and the wildlife trade - but their numbers have continued to spiral downward for nearly two decades. That’s in part because conservation efforts are increasingly diverse and often aimed at improving habitats outside protected areas, according to the study, published in Tuesday’s issue of the peer-reviewed PLoS Biology journal. Instead, efforts should be concentrated on the areas where tigers live - most are clustered in just 6 percent of their available habitat - and especially where they breed. “The immediate priority must be to ensure that the last remaining breeding populations are protected and continually monitored,” it says, adding if that doesn’t happen, “all other efforts are bound to fail.” The WWF and other conservation groups say the world’s tiger population has fallen from around 5,000 in 1998 to as few as 3,200 today, despite tens of millions of dollars invested in conservation efforts. The cats have been lost largely to poachers, who cash in on a huge market for tiger skins and a belief, prevalent in East Asia, that eating or applying tiger parts enhance health and virility. The new study - to which researchers from the conservationist group Panthera, the World Bank, the University of Cambridge and others also contributed - identifies 42 key areas that have concentrations of tigers with the potential to grow and populate larger landscapes. Eighteen are in India - the country with the most tigers - eight in Indonesia, six in Russia’s Far East and the others scattered elsewhere in
Asia. The price tag for the plan - which would require greater levels of law enforcement and surveillance - would be around $82 million a year, the study says. The bulk of that is already being provided by state governments and international support. Similar efforts have been successful in the past - especially in India. The Malenad-Mysore landscape in southern India has 220 adult tigers, one of the largest populations in the world, thanks largely to intensive protection of its “source site,” the Nagarahole National Park, in the 1970s. Those high densities have now been maintained for 30 years, the authors wrote, pointing to similar success stories with the African rhinoceros. Alan Rabinowitz, president of Panthera, said focusing on breeding grounds is “absolutely necessary right now if we are to save tigers in the wild.” But he stressed that in the long-term, it is important that tigers be able to move in surrounding landscapes to maintain genetic and demographic viability. “Otherwise we are boxing ourselves into a corner that would allow only for contained, managed populations.” Barney Long, of the WWF Species Program and independent of the study, agreed, saying conservationists shouldn’t create “living zoos.” One of the criticisms about recent tiger conservation efforts is that they extend well beyond protected areas, managing ecosystems and working with local communities to help tiger and human populations coexist. Debbie Martyr, who set up an anti-poaching unit on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra, said much can be achieved by protecting key tiger habitats. She also was not tied to the study. If the government is determined to help protect such areas and crack down on poachers there could be a significant increase in tiger numbers, she said. “In fact, I’m going to stick my neck out a little here, but I’d say in 10 years time, there could be more tigers on Sumatra (around 300 today) than in India (1,400).” (September 14th 2010)
Earthquake Causes Panic in Yogyakarta An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook Yogyakarta and its surroundings on Sunday (Sept 12) at 11.38 pm. The temblor`s epicenter was located 8.10 degrees southern latitude, 10.37 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km below sea level, around 23 km southeast of Bantul, Yogyakarta, Sidik Pramono, a staff member of the Yogyakarta meteorological, climatology and geophysics office, said here Monday. “Up to now, there is no report of damage in the earthquake, but it caused panic among residents of Yogyakarta and its surroundings,” he said. The temblor was felt by inhabitants of Yogyakarta, Bantul, Klaten dna Sukojarjo, Central Java. (September 13 th 2010) Tenants Ignore Screams as Bali Teenager Murdered A teenage girl was found murdered with a knife protruding from her neck in a boarding house in Denpasar, Bali, on Tuesday (7/9) night. Police identified the victim as student Dewa Ayu Agung Diah Cahyani, 18, the daughter of the head of Bangli district’s Industry and Trade Office. She was found naked in the bedroom of the boarding house on Jalan Ida Bagus Oka. Denpasar Police Chief Adjutant Snr. Comr. Suryanbodo Asmoro said the victim’s body had been found by her uncle, Dewa Anom Sayuga, who was contacted by her father, Dewa Gede Suparta, to check on Cahyani because he had not been able to contact her since Tuesday morning. Sayunga said that he arrived at the boarding house to discover Cahyani’s door locked so he peaked through her louver windows and saw her sleeping under a blanket. When she would not rouse from what he believed to be a deep sleep, Sayunga said he inserted a pole through the window and poked her and realised that she was dead. (September 8th 2010) Masseur Raped 12 Young Girls, Bali Court Hears Denpasar District Court on Wednesday (8/9) opened the trial of Mohammad Davis Suharto, who is accused of raping 12 children. The trial was closed to the public and families of the victims gathered outside the courtroom. But prosecutor I Gusti Ngurah Agung Kusumayasa Diputra made the indictment available. It accuses Davis, also known as Coden, of raping five elementary school children between February and April in Denpasar. He is also accused of raping seven other young girls when he was working in Batam, Riau Islands. “He would lure the victims with trickery. If they refused, he would choke them till they became unconscious and then rape them,” the prosecutor said. Another prosecutor, Ni Made Ayu Citra Mayasari, said the Denpasar rapes had happened across the city, including on Jalan Tantular Barat, Bypass Ngurah Rai and Jalan Gunung Mahendratta. Ayu Citra said Davis targeted his victims as they were leaving school. The masseur, who was always on a motorcycle, would tell the girls their parents had sent him to pick them up. “They would then be taken to an empty spot and raped. Once he was done with them he dropped them near their homes,” Ayu Citra said. A lawyer for Davis, Wayan Koja, said his client would not contest the charges. When brought back to a holding cell within the court, a weeping Davis told the Jakarta Globe: “I am so sorry and I apologize to the families of the victims. I regret what I did.” Police arrested Davis in May. Women’s groups showered the local police chief with flowers to thank him for cracking the case. The 30-year-old Davis is a native of East Java. Bali has reported a spike in crime this year, particularly involving victims under 21. (September 8th 2010)