JAKARTA, Indonesia - More flimsy, worn-out sandals piled up around Indonesia yesterday as part of a protest campaign against the trial of a 15-year-old boy hauled into court by a police officer who accused him of stealing his old footwear.
The second hearing in the trial began around 10 a.m. yesterday, with dozens of students and activists gathering outside the courtroom in Palu, Central Sulawesi, to call for the release of the suspect, who was identified only as A.A.L.
Meanwhile, protesters continued dropping off their used flip-flops at the offices of the National Commission for Child Protection, a public agency that organized the collection, as well as at police stations and prosecutors’ offices.
The sandal campaign has grabbed headlines and become a favorite topic on social networking sites since it began Dec. 29....
Muhammad Ikhsan, the secretary at the National Commission for Child Protection, said the boy was interrogated and badly beaten.
Translation: tortured
Activists say the public indignation at the case is a sign that people are fed up with abuses of power by the police.
It's really the SAME in EVERY COUNTRY! That is what WE the PEOPLE of the WORLD ALL HAVE in COMMON!
Indria Fernida, a deputy coordinator with the human rights group Kontras, said that too often the police and prosecutors focus on petty crimes while avoiding cases that involve people with power and authority.
Oh, DO I EVER UNDERSTAND THAT FEELING!
If the boy is found guilty in the sandal case, he could face up to five years in prison - a greater sentence than that meted out in the past to convicted terrorists and major corruption convicts....
WTF?
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Never saw another word, readers.
Instead we got this:
"Indonesia tries to deter ‘rail surfing’" Associated Press, January 18, 2012
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia has gone to imaginative extremes to try to stop commuters from illegally riding the roofs of trains: hosing down the scofflaws with red paint, threatening them with dogs, and appealing for help from religious leaders.
Now, authorities have an intimidating and possibly even deadly new tactic: suspending rows of grapefruit-sized concrete balls to rake over the top of trains as they pull out of stations or go through rail crossings.
Authorities hope the balls - which could deliver serious blows to the head - will deter defiant roof riders.
Trains that crisscross Indonesia on poorly maintained tracks left behind by Dutch colonizers six decades ago usually are packed with passengers, especially during the rush hour.
Hundreds seeking to escape the overcrowded carriages clamber to the top. Some ride high to avoid paying for a ticket. Others do so because - despite the dangers, with dozens killed or injured every year - “rail surfing’’ is fun.
Wipeout!
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