Panca Nugraha, Mataram – The government will stop donating rice to hundreds of followers of an Islamic sect taking refuge in shelters in West Nusa Tenggara for the past three years, an official said Monday.

Ali Kotarumalos, Jakarta – Ten suspected Islamic militants went on trial Tuesday in an Indonesian court for allegedly killing a Christian schoolteacher and plotting to bomb a cafe.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Indonesia admitted yesterday that it had undertaken fewer than half the reforms planned in the past four years for its maritime sector, after a ferry sank with more than 260 people on board.

Sara Webb and Olivia Rondonuwu, Jakarta – Take a ferry in the vast Indonesian archipelago and there's a good chance your name won't show up on the manifest. Foot passengers often buy tickets on board, while car passengers are sometimes not recorded by name.

Jakarta – Indonesia's consumer confidence fell slightly in December, mainly because of concerns about job losses amid the global economic crisis, two surveys showed.

The economy and jobs are among the key issues for voters in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections this year.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia raised the forecast for its 2009 budget deficit to 2.5 percent of GDP on Tuesday, from 1 percent previously, as the government seeks to counter the global economic downturn in an election year.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided Monday to lower fuel and electricity prices before Indonesians go to the polls this year.

Yudhoyono also issued a policy to immediately force public transportation operators to slash fares and allow the public to directly enjoy the impact of a string of fuel price cuts.

The verdict passed on Muchdi Purwoprandjono, on Wednesday last week, was a shock to 37-year-old Suciwati. Muchdi, a suspect in the murder of her husband, Munir, was acquitted. "It hurt," she said. "But I must remain rational. I cannot be emotional."

The Hon Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

12 January 2009

Dear Mr Smith,

Rumbadi Dalle, Batam – The average income for Indonesian fishermen is still below the average regional minimum wage. Indonesian Fishermen Association chairman Yusuf Solichin Martadiningrat said a fisherman earns only about Rp 300,000 a month.

Australia has signed a joint statement with Indonesia to build a more secure and peaceful region, Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston says.

Air Chief Marshal Houston co-signed the statement with his counterpart, Indonesia's commander in chief of Armed Forces, General Djoko Santoso, on Monday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono once said that the Munir case was a "make or break" situation. It was decided last Wednesday, by a panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court, which acquitted Muchdi Purwoprandjono in the murder of Munir Said Thalib, who was poisoned during a flight to Europe on September 7, 2004.

Jakarta – Indonesia's attorney general has filed an appeal against a court decision last month in which a former top intelligence official was acquitted of the murder of a human rights activist, an official said on Monday.

Sleman – The demarcation between political parties labeled as Islamic and non-Islamic parties is becoming increasingly vague. This indicates that political identity is no longer an issue in the future national life of the country.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A decision by British authorities to unfreeze 36 million euro worth of funds belonging to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has been slammed by experts back home.

A smile graced the lips of 59-year-old retired Major-General Muchdi Purwoprandjono. All through Wednesday afternoon last week, he received a never- ending stream of congratulations from colleagues and relatives. Speaking to journalists waiting in front of his home in South Jakarta, he even managed to joke about the situation.

Around 250 people missing after a ferry capsized in heavy seas off Indonesia's Sulawesi island are probably dead, officials said Monday as bad weather hampered the grim search for survivors.

Makassar – In a highly anticipated move the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party officially named Wiranto, its leader and founder, as its presidential candidate at the party's three-day executive meeting held in the South Sulawesi capital.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – With legislative elections less than three months away, voters lack knowledge about the polls and may end up wasting their vote, a survey has found.

Jakarta – In administrative terms, the potential for white movement or golput – people who don't use their right to vote – remains high in the 2009 legislative and presidential elections. Based on the results of an Indo Barometer survey, only 67.2 percent of people think that are enrolled vote.

The Indonesians newspapers and media are quite naturally increasingly focusing on reporting and analyzing the various aspects of the campaigning for the 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections.

Bangkok – The US and European Union should review their policy of imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar as the country's pariah military regime is key to the future stability of any elected government, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said Sunday.

Jakarta – Around 250,000 supporters from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) joined religious leaders in a solidarity forum at the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta on Sunday morning to condemn Israel's attacks on Palestine.

Makassar – Leaders of the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party have grouped in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar to discuss the Constitutional Court's ruling that requires parties to allocate their legislative seats to candidates who have won the most popular votes, rather than based on an internal hierarchy.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Refraining from expressing his readiness to challenge the incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in July's presidential election, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Friday he wants to become a "state leader".

Bangkok – East Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta said Sunday he recently shook hands with the rebellious soldier who shot him last year, but had not yet named him to prosecutors.

Horta, who was in Bangkok for a peace seminar, told an audience that on December 26 he shook hands with the man who shot him on February 11, leaving him on the verge of death.

Mohd Nasir Yusoff, Bernama – Indonesia is projected to enjoy a rice production surplus of 3.8 million tonnes in 2009 or 5.37 per cent more than last year, a senior agriculture ministry official said.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, Jakarta – The National Police and the office of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono insist presidential candidate Rizal Ramli was named a suspect in a protest case in accordance with the law, dismissing suggestions it was a political move.

Jakarta – Indonesia will require commodities exporters to use letters of credit issued by local banks in future, to make sure that foreign exchange remains onshore, the trade minister said on Friday.

Indonesia has taken several steps to try to reduce capital outflows and lessen the impact of a world economic crisis.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – While a new export regulation will help cover local firms from risk of payment default, several business associations say it may spook potential overseas buyers of the country's key commodities.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – "The courts are simply an extension of the perpetrators of human rights violations". Thus spoke the late human rights activist Munir during a speech at a demonstration at the Supreme Court in 2004. Likewise is the human rights situation at the start of 2009, including the investigation into his murder.

Jakarta – An Indonesian general who was convicted and later acquitted of the murder of a leading activist, is launching defamation action against a prominent human rights leader.

The South Jakarta District Court in December cleared Muchdi Purwoprandjono of all charges linked to the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.

Chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Usman Hamid, has accused former top spy Muchdi Purpranjono of attempting to disrupt the investigation of the murder of the late human rights activist Munir by filing a defamation case against him with police.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The central government handed over 2,000 houses Thursday to former East Timorese refugees opting to reside in East Nusa Tenggara.

Palembang – The impact of the global crisis continues to claim victims around the country as more workers are laid off. In South Sumatra for example, between mid 2008 and early 2009 as many as 2,000 workers have been sent home (temporarily laid off) or dismissed.

Semarang – Around 300 ulema from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, will gather in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday to draw up election recommendations for the government.

The ulema are concerned about "disruptions" in the preparations for the April legislative elections, senior NU cleric Mahfud Ridwan said in a press statement Thursday.

Aziz Tunny, Ambon, Maluku – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri said Friday she was not phased by a number of surveys which predict a rematch between her and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the presidential election run-off later this year.

A survey by one of Indonesia's top research groups has revealed that, as of December and according to public perception, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the best person to lead the country.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Around 100 people from the Islamic Reform Movement sealed off a house Friday afternoon alleged to be the center of a sect preaching alternative Islamic teachings.

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) is calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to initiate a dialogue with his Indonesian counterpart in response to fresh evidence that the suppression of civil, political and human rights in West Papua continues with full Indonesian Government support.

Jakarta – As Israel's two-week offensive in Gaza continues, massive anti-Israel and anti-US rallies have been taking place across Indonesia. Muslim protesters also sealed off a Jewish synagogue in Surabaya, East Java and have threatened to boycott American products in the province.

Jakarta – About 200 Indonesian women protested against Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip outside the Egyptian embassy in Jakarta on Friday.

Carrying posters showing wounded and dead Palestinian children, they urged Egypt to open its border with Gaza for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government claims it managed to reduce unemployment and poverty rates in 2008 and will continue to further drive the figures down this year despite the looming threat of the global financial meltdown on the country.

Jakarta – A court in Indonesia's remote Papua region has jailed 11 activists for "subversion" after they raised the region's banned independence flag, a lawyer said on Friday.

Prominent activist Jack Wanggai was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and 10 others were given three years over peaceful protests in March 2007, lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy said.

Jakarta – Police in Indonesia's Papua province said on Friday they were hunting suspected separatist rebels who raided a police post and stabbed the wife of an officer before making off with four guns and ammunition.

Jakarta – The Finance Ministry has handed more than 260 "illegal" bank accounts belonging to four ministries and two state institutions to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for further investigation.

Several large electronics companies in Bintan, Riau Island in Indonesia, affected by the global economic downturn, have begun large-scale worker layoffs, a local manpower agency official said Thursday.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The central bank has given the corporate sector hope by slashing its benchmark interest rate for the third consecutive month in a bid to cushion the impact of the global economic slump and amid a recent slowdown of inflation.

The Corruption Court on Wednesday jailed two lawmakers – they were sacked by their political party after their arrest – for receiving bribes to speed up the amendment of the Bank Indonesia law and to smooth the settlement of a graft case.

Siti Rahil, Dili – Foreign investors are beginning to trickle into impoverished East Timor as it struggles to achieve stability and develop its fledgling economy six years after its violent break from Indonesia.