AIR AND SEA SEARCH FOR 9 NAVY CREW MISSING OFF MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has deployed 11 ships and two helicopters to search for a naval craft which went missing with nine crew members during an anti-poaching patrol, officials said Monday. The small boat, from the warship KD Perdana, disappeared on Saturday in calm waters off Cape Sedili in the southern state of Johor. “Just before the incident, KD Perdana and the small craft were chasing away illegal fishing boats from Malaysian waters,” the navy said in a statement. Eleven warships and two helicopters are involved in the search, it added.
JAKARTA’S CHRISTIAN GOVERNOR APPEALS BLASPHEMY CONVICTION
JAKARTA: Jakarta’s jailed Christian governor Monday appealed his conviction for blaspheming Islam, his legal team said, as the United Nations stepped up pressure on Indonesia to overturn the controversial sentence. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was jailed for two years earlier this month for insulting the Koran, a shock decision that has undermined a reputation for religious tolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. Lawyers for Purnama filed the appeal to the High Court in Jakarta. They believe the judges’ decision did not properly take into account testimony from defense witnesses, lawyer Ronny Talapessy told Agence France-Presse. The lawyers also urged the court to release Purnama, Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader, on bail while his appeal is ongoing. The sentence was widely criticized as too harsh after prosecutors had demanded that he be given just two years’ probation.
PAKISTAN OPPOSITION PARTY TO SUE GOVT FOR DETAINING SUPPORTERS
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani opposition party led by former cricketer Imran Khan will take legal action against the government for detaining its vocal online activists under a controversial cybercrime law, a spokesman said on Monday. At least 23 supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (Movement for Justice) party have been detained and threatened with action under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, Fawad Hussain Chauhdry, a spokesman for the party, told Agence France-Presse. It is the first time the new law has been used in a broad crackdown against political opposition. Two have been charged under the law, including one for sharing a satirical picture of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and are on bail pending further investigation. He added the party would sue the government for intimidation and harassment in the Islamabad High Court.
INDONESIAN POLICE MAKE MASS ARRESTS OVER ‘GAY SEX PARTY’
JAKARTA: Indonesian police have detained 141 men including several foreigners for allegedly taking part in a gay sex party at a sauna, an official said on Monday, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country. Officers late Sunday raided a building in the capital Jakarta that houses a sauna and a gym, and halted what they said was a sex party promoted as “The Wild One.” Pictures circulating online showed topless men sitting crammed in a room next to gym equipment after the raid. Police said four foreigners were among those arrested— one Briton, one Singaporean and two Malaysians.
3 CLIMBERS DIE ON EVEREST, ONE MISSING
KATHMANDU: Three climbers died on Everest over the weekend and another is missing, officials confirmed on Monday, in one of the deadliest episodes on the peak since an avalanche swept through base camp and killed 18 two years ago. More than a dozen climbers have been rescued from the 8,848 meter (29,030 foot) mountain in the last three days after running into difficulties on the world’s highest peak, helicopter rescue operators said. The weekend fatalities appear related to altitude sickness and bring the death toll to five during a season marked by unpredictable weather, strong winds and unusually cold temperatures. The weather calmed over the weekend, opening a narrow window for climbers to make a bid for the top.