A preliminary list of legislative candidates eligible to compete in next year's elections was published last Friday, sending many of the country's 38 registered parties into a frenzy of complaints and demands.

"... although legislation represents an important start, its role cannot be more than just a beginning.

Presi Mandari, Jakarta – With their daughter perched at the front of the motorbike and their son squashed between them, Purwanto and his wife set off from Jakarta for the 15-hour overnight ride home for their holidays.

Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said he will run for a second term in next year's election, with Vice President Jusuf Kalla his probable running mate.

"God willing I will run again for president in 2009," he told reporters late Sunday during a meeting at the state palace, confirming his widely expected bid for a second five-year term.

Damien Kingsbury – The recent announcement by Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon that Australia will co-produce weapons with Indonesia would seem to indicate that, after decades of difficulties, there are no longer major outstanding issues between Australia and Indonesia.

Jakarta – An army soldier kidnapped Sunday morning by an armed group in East Aceh was released in Cot Keh Village in Peureulak on Monday morning.

Five Australians arrested after illegally landing a light plane in Indonesia's Papua province were charged with immigration offences and face seven years' jail, police said.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Major House of Representatives factions failed in their second try to keep Bagir Manan as chief justice before he retires early next month, after widespread opposition to enabling legislation.

Dili – Justice in East Timor has traditionally been measured out in water buffaloes. A goat theft costs one buffalo and a rape of a woman is worth two, although it varies from village to village.

New York – The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I delegation visiting the US, called on US congressmen to help correct understanding on Papua issue as some Congressmen still considered the issue problematic.

Veronica Kusuma, Jakarta – Ever since Ayat-ayat Cinta (Verses of love) hit the cinemas, the representation of Islam in Indonesian cinema has created a lively debate. Some Muslim leaders endorsed the treatment on the grounds that Islamic teaching could be spread to the populace through popular culture.

Tjahjono EP/ENI, Timika – Provincial Police has named Paulus Kiwing and Matius Magai, residents of Kwamki Baru town as suspects for raising the outlawed Kejora Star flag last Tuesday. Both are now detained at the Mimika police headquarters.

Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – The recent legal battle over the ownership of traditional motifs has demonstrated the failure of Indonesian copyright law to protect local artisans and their future creative work, a discussion heard Tuesday.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The Golkar Party has failed in its apparent attempt to keep chief justice Bagir Manan in office, after the House of Representatives decided to delay passing the Supreme Court bill this month amid mounting public resistance.

The delay means Bagir will have to retire on Oct. 6, 2008, when he turns 67, as stipulated in the prevailing Supreme Court law.

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – Members of two organizations clashed outside the Central Jakarta district court building Thursday as Rizieq Shihab's trial continues.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Groups of women's rights activists from eight provinces have intensified pressure on legislators to cancel the pornography bill, citing that it could further criminalize women across the archipelago.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Global food prices are to remain high until 2012 given high demand amid fast-growing population and rapid biofuel development, the Agriculture Ministry has warned.

Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – East Timor is drawing up plans for a deep sea pipeline and petrochemicals plant to tap an estimated $90 billion in disputed underwater oil and gas, company and government officials said, in a rare opportunity for one of Asia's poorest and smallest countries to boost its economy.

Jakarta – State electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has projected its fuel consumption this year to reach 11.1 million to 11.4 million kiloliters.

Speaking to the press here on Thursday, Chief of PLN's Primary Energy Unit Nasri Sebayang said that by the end of August 2008, the company's fuel consumption had already reached 8.6 million kiloliters.

Dili – As a girl, Laura Pina was not expected to slave in the kitchen simply by virtue of her gender. Then she got married.

Ajay Chhibber, New York – On Sept. 25, 2008, at the midpoint towards achieving the Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders gathered in New York to see where more can be done to reach them by their deadline of 2015.

Pramono U. Tanthowi, Jakarta – During the last ten years of the Soeharto regime before his fall in May 1998, there were ubiquitous signs of diverging approaches to the state adopted by the two largest Muslim civil society organizations in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

For many in East Timor, access to the justice system is almost impossible. Institutions are weak and the remoteness of many villages means it can take days to reach the nearest police station. Now, one government official is travelling around East Timor promoting the use of traditional justice for all crimes, including rape.

Presenter: Stephanie March

Connie Levett – Guy Campos, the East Timorese man accused of high-level collaboration with the Indonesian military involving kidnapping and torture of East Timorese citizens during Indonesia's occupation, was convicted of "torture leading to death" of an 11-year-old boy, Francisco Ximenes, in 1979, according to newly uncovered East Timorese court documents.

Urgent Appeal General: AHRC-UAG-012-2008

Dear friends,

Dili – The United Nations aims to complete investigating nearly 400 cases related to the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's 1999 independence vote from Indonesia, the chief UN investigator said on Friday.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Support for Islamic-based parties is expected to remain low in the 2009 elections as Muslims look set to vote for nationalist political groups promoting better welfare for the public, according to a new survey released Thursday.

It suggested the political stance of Muslim voters would stay unchanged from previous general elections.

Newly-elected National Police chief Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri reaffirmed his commitment Wednesday to eradicating illegal levies in a move to push for an institutional reform within his corps.

Dicky Christanto/Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has said the House of Representatives should modify existing laws to regulate the sex industry instead of endorsing a new pornography bill he considered a threat to national unity.

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Responding to mounting public criticism, the House of Representatives has begun revising several contentious articles of the pornography bill, which is scheduled to be passed into law in October.

The leader of a group of 43 Papuan asylum seekers now living in Australia says he has concerns for the long-term safety of two Papuans who have returned to the Indonesian province.

The Indonesian authorities must take immediate action to investigate the torture of Papuan prisoner Ferdinand Pakage, who is detained at Abepura Prison, Papua.

Jakarta – Former Bank Indonesia governor Burhanuddin Abdullah revealed that Cabinet minister Paskah Suzetta attended at least two meetings with BI officials to discuss the settlement of a major bribery scandal involving the central bank.

Burhanuddin, a suspect in the case, made the statement on Wednesday during his trial at the Corruption Court.

The Indonesia Human Rights Committee has sent Minister Goff about the latest arrests in West Papua – following attempts by the people to join together to raise the Morning Star flag. This flag is deeply valued by the Papuan people as it was their first national flag in 1961 and 1962 while the territory was still under the Dutch, before Indonesia took control.

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB) activists M. Guntur Romli and Nong Darol came to the city police headquarters on Wednesday to report being assaulted during the National Monument ambush trials.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Former prominent justices on Wednesday joined the chorus of mounting opposition against a bill that will extend the retirement age of Supreme Court judges to 70 years.

They argued the decision would lead to poorer performance by the justices and an ineffective career system at the court.

[Submitted by the West Papua Advocacy Team and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network for the hearing on Extracting Natural Resources: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law.]

Jakarta – House special committee drafting the bill on the president and vice president election have agreed to include a provision to fine candidates who bail out prior to the election date.

Dili – It's no secret that charity clothes cast off from rich countries end up on the backs of some of the poorest people on earth.

Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Top intelligence officials held a series of meetings with former Garuda Indonesia chief Indra Setiawan to plot the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, a court in Jakarta heard Tuesday.

Lucy Williamson – One day, perhaps, the place where Isabel sits will be a five-star hotel, its private villas looking on the beach, its grand entrance frowning down on the western corner of Dili's beach road.

[The following statement was submitted by the West Papua Advocacy Team and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network for the hearing on Extracting Natural Resources: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. <http://etan.org/news/2008/09freeport.htm>]

Just days after the Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon met with his Indonesian counterpart Juwono Sudarsono, 18 West Papuans are arrested in Timika for flag raising.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The revision of the Supreme Court law allowing justices to stay in office until the age of 70 will obstruct reforms within the country's judicial system, dubbed the most corrupt in Asia, experts and activists are warning.

Markus Makur, Timika – The police have arrested 18 individuals for allegedly hoisting the separatist Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag Tuesday in Mimika Baru district, Mimika regency, an act which carries a maximum penalty of death under the articles of sedition.

Two of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers at the heart of a diplomatic rift between Australia and Indonesia two years ago have returned to their homeland.

The Indonesian government said Hana Gobay, from Merauke in Papua, and Yubel Kareni, from Serui, returned to Papua on Wednesday morning, accompanied by Indonesia's consul general in Melbourne, Jahar Gultom.

Jakarta – A coalition of anticorruption groups on Tuesday reported 77 legislators to the House of Representatives' disciplinary council for alleged violations of the House's code of ethics.

The legislators are accused of involvement in a series of corruption cases, including two bribery scandals plaguing Bank Indonesia.

Dian Kuswandini and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A higher court has ruled in favor of a decision by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to halt a probe into the loan scandal involving tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Indonesia scored better on this year's Corruption Perception Index (CPI), thanks mostly to an aggressive crackdown by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), an annual global survey revealed Tuesday.

Olivia Rondonuwu and Ed Davies, Jakarta – Retired Indonesian general Wiranto, a controversial figure over rights abuses in East Timor who looks set to run for president next year, said his country needs to spread its wealth among the poor.