INSIDE:
NEWS/STORIES/ARTICLES
Book Reviews
Columns/Opinion/Cartoon
Films
International
National
NW/Local
Recipes
Special A.C.E. Stories
Online
Paper (PDF)
NW RESOURCE GUIDE
Archives
Consulates
Organizations
Scholarships
Special Sections
Upcoming
The Asian Reporter Tenth Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet - Saturday, April 26th.
Asian Reporter Info
AR
Merchandise
Contact Us
Subscription Info. & Back Issues
ASIA LINKS
Asian Studies
Currency Exchange
More Asian Links
Public Holidays
Time Zones
Copyright © 2000 - 2008
AR Home
International News
McCain’s Hanoi jailer endorses him, denies claims of torture
****
From The Asian Reporter, V18, #27 (July 8, 2008), page 2.
Customs officers plant drugs in luggage
TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Customs recently punished three of its officers for secretly slipping drugs into travellers’ luggage more than 160 times at Japan’s main international airport to train drug-sniffing dogs, an official said. The three customs officers had been planting drugs in randomly selected bags at Narita International Airport in Tokyo since September last year, Tokyo Customs spokesman Kazutoshi Takahashi said. "We are deeply sorry that such acts have happened," Takahashi said. "The three officers apologized and explained they did it in an effort to boost the dogs’ performance." The trio’s monthslong practice was exposed following an embarrassing blunder in May. One of the officers slipped a package of cannabis resin into an outside pocket of luggage belonging to a traveller from Hong Kong, but a sniffer dog failed to detect it, Takahashi said. Once the officer realized the drugs had left the airport — along with the unsuspecting traveller — he panicked and informed his bosses. Tokyo Customs then frantically sought help from airline and airport officials to track down the Hong Kong traveller at his Tokyo hotel and recover the more than 4 ounces (120 grams) of resin a day later. Takahashi did not say where the officers had obtained the drugs in the first place. The officer who lost the drugs in May is to be suspended from duty for three months, while two others will have their salary cut by 10 percent for three months.
Magazine says Myanmar salt price has tripled
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The price of salt has tripled since Myanmar was hit by Cyclone Nargis, which damaged salt-producing areas as well as rice fields, a magazine reported. The weekly magazine Voice said the price of a viss of salt — which is equal to 3.5 pounds— had soared at one point to 1,300 kyats ($1.18), more than six times its pre-cyclone price of 200 kyats ($0.18). The magazine reported more than 1,000 acres of state-owned salt fields and 23,430 acres of privately owned salt fields were destroyed by the cyclone. It said salt is produced mainly in the Irrawaddy delta — the area hardest hit by the May 2 through 3 storm — and also southern Mon and Tanintharyi states and northwestern Rakhine state. Cyclone Nargis cut a swath of destruction through the delta and the region around the Yangon river, killing 84,537 people and leaving 53,836 missing, according to the government.
Malaysian babysitter sentenced for killing toddler
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A court official said a Malaysian babysitter has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for causing the death of a toddler by sitting on her. The official says the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted Megat Shahrizat Megat Shahrur of culpable homicide not amounting to murder for causing injuries that led to the two-year-old girl’s death in 2001. Witnesses testified Megat Shahrizat looked after Nur Izzatul Shahira while her mother was away. When she wouldn’t stop crying one night, he slapped her and sat on her, causing her liver and pancreas to rupture. The court official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, said Megat Shahrizat’s sentence commenced from his arrest in June 2001.
Filipino convicted in death of ex-NYC journalist
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A woodcarver was recently convicted of killing a former Brooklyn journalist and U.S. Peace Corps volunteer who disappeared while hiking on northern Philippine mountainside rice terraces. Juan Duntugan wept after a regional trial court in northern Ifugao province found him guilty of murdering Julia Campbell in April 2007. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison without parole. Duntugan had confessed to bludgeoning Campbell, 40, with a rock and a stick in a fit of rage when she accidentally bumped into him on a narrow mountain trail. Duntugan said he was upset from a spat with a neighbor. Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor also ordered Duntugan, 27, to pay Campbell’s family about $889,000 in damages, including her funeral expenses. Duntugan, who can appeal, was to be moved to a maximum-security prison complex in Manila, court officials said. The judge said she could not impose the death penalty because it has been banned in the country. "This is justice for Julia," prosecutor Reynaldo Agranzamendez told The Associated Press by telephone from Ifugao, about 160 miles north of Manila. "But justice can only compensate, it cannot bring her back to life," he said. Campbell, a former journalist who worked for The New York Times and other media organizations, came to the Philippines in March 2005.
Indonesian court jails museum curator over theft
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The curator of a museum in central Indonesia was sentenced to 18 months in jail for helping steal six ancient Buddhist statues and replacing them with replicas to cover up the crime, a judge said. Suhadi Darmodipuro, who was among four people arrested for the 2006 theft at the Radya Pustaka Museum, said he regretted his involvement in the scam and would not appeal. Presiding Judge Ganjar Susilo found the 70-year-old guilty of helping steal the stone statues, which date back to the 4th century, and selling them to a Dutch curator for between $3,500 and $20,000 each. Replicas made by local stonemasons were put in their place. The scam was first uncovered by an ex-staffer at the museum in Surakarta, a city on Java island. "I’ve given 50 years of my life to service the museum," Darmodipuro said after the verdict was handed down. "It was a big mistake. ... I very much regret it and accept this sentence." The statues stolen from the Radya Pustaka Museum were recovered in a raid on the house of a wealthy businessman in the capital, Jakarta.