Jakarta – Under international pressure to rein in troublesome militias, Jakarta extended security operations to disarm the West Timor population but on Monday firmly laid the blame for the problem with the international community.
Indonesia & East Timor Digest
Displaying 92051-92100 of 98188 Documents
October 3, 2000
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – They arrived without warning in two minibuses, brandishing clubs, swords and guns and wearing black masks. JeJe's nightclub, the most popular place for foreigners to meet in Jakarta, was packed with 600 patrons.
Maryadi/BI & GB, Pontianak – Hundreds of truck drivers at the Dwikora port in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, went on strike Monday. The drivers have conveyed their demand for an increase of 100% to the tariff for the rental of transport vehicles at the port to the Indonesian Expedition and Forwarder Group (Gafeksi) in Pontianak.
Robert Go, Jakarta – The new revenue-sharing formula between Jakarta and regional governments presents a medium-term Pandora's box, but its immediate effect is the reduction of the central government's ability to jumpstart the economy at the national level.
Jakarta – Indonesia's reformist government is reviewing official histories of key moments in the country's past that it says were misrepresented by former President Suharto's regime.
Jakarta – Former leader of East Timor's Aitarak militia Eurico Guterres warned here Monday that his supporters in West Timor could try to take over an East Timor district if he was arrested.
October 2, 2000
Jakarta – An angry mob has killed a man in Central Java for sleeping at his fiancee's house, while another man was stabbed to death after dancing erotically with a woman.
Jakarta – The first day of the fuel price hike passed without major public upheaval on Sunday, despite a few protests in Jakarta and Bandung, and rumors of bigger demonstrations in other towns.
In Jakarta, about 1,000 people from several labor unions protested in front of the Presidential Palace demanding that the government cancel the fuel price increase.
Jakarta – The city administration is having trouble providing jobs for some 40,000 government employees whose ministries were closed down by the central government.
According to the deputy governor for administrative affairs, Mr Abdul Kahfi, his office would be very selective in recruiting government employees from dissolved ministries.
Jakarta – Five Indonesian students were injured when police opened fire on a protest against a rise in fuel prices, in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, witnesses said.
Bagus Kurniawan/BI & GB, Yogyakarta – Thousands of students from the Muhammadiyah High School in Yogyakarta, Central Java, have staged a rowdy protest on Monday at the Provincial Legislative Council building demanding the police take responsibility for the shooting of a student.
Chong Chee Kin, Dili – In a soft, quavering voice, Mr Jose Armando pleaded for a job in front of a group of journalists who had stopped at Kampung Baru, a village in the capital of Dili in East Timor.
Jakarta – As many as 95 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Aceh in the last 24 days despite the extension of the Humanitarian Pause between the government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a local rights group said.
October 1, 2000
Jakarta – A Jakarta court has ordered investigators to drop an inquiry into corruption allegations against two Indonesian supreme court justices. South Jakarta District Court Judge Rusmandani on Friday upheld a demand by the two accused justices that the investigation was invalid because the inquiry team had acted beyond its authority.
Jakarta – The government on Saturday raised fuel prices by an average of 12 percent to help offset soaring oil prices in international markets. The new prices are effective as of Sunday.
DSB, DS & TS/GB, Jakarta – The increase in fuel prices, effective today Sunday 1 October 2000, have sparked demonstrations across Indonesia while the President has called on the people not to be 'reactive'. A massive national demonstration is planned for 10 October.
September 30, 2000
Jakarta – Police warned students on Friday against conducting more violent protests following the ugly clashes which erupted on Thursday after the South Jakarta District Court dropped corruption charges against former president Soeharto.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Student activists, angered by a Jakarta district court's rejection of former President Suharto's corruption charges, have vowed to step up pressure to bring him back to court with more street rallies next week.
Associated Press at the United Nations – Britain joined the United States in warning overnight that Indonesia risked losing foreign aid if it doesn't immediately disarm militias and arrest those responsible for killing UN aid workers and wreaking havoc in Timorese refugee camps.
Associated Press in Kupang – A notorious militia leader surrendered a handgun to police on Saturday after Indonesia's president threatened to have him arrested if he refused.
Vaudine England and Associated Press in Kupang – Two days after the start of what was supposed to be a campaign to forcibly disarm East Timorese militiamen in West Timor, Indonesian police said yesterday they had netted only 21 weapons, all of which were surrendered voluntarily.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid, attempting to contain the political fallout from the collapse of the multi-million-dollar corruption case against former President Suharto, has vowed to have it reopened.
The dismissal of former President Suharto's graft case has provoked widespread dismay in Indonesia, with newspapers attacking President Abdurrahman, saying the ruling could destroy the Muslim cleric's anti-graft campaign. Here is an excerpt of The Jakarta Post editorial on the issue
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – On many of Jakarta's balmy evenings, the plush suburb of Menteng looks like a battlefield as protesters fight police blocking them from the house with the red tile roof at No 8 Cendana Street.
Susan Sim, Jakarta – It is not an equation that the angry young demonstrators give two hoots about, but the donor countries probably care more about the fate of the Indonesian orangutan than whether former President Suharto goes to jail.
September 29, 2000
Vaudine England, Jakarta – The South Jakarta Court's decision yesterday to close the fraud case against former president Suharto poses one of the gravest challenges yet to the Government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, and is unlikely to provide closure for many Indonesians.
Mark Dodd, Suai – Dead men tell no tales, according to the adage, but the body of a dead militiaman can reveal a bounty of information. For the present he is an unknown warrior who was among a group ambushed by New Zealand peacekeepers.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Indonesia yesterday failed to meet its deadline to disarm Timorese militias, despite increasing international pressure on Jakarta to rein in the army gangs.
Police sources in the border town of Atambua said that security forces were still carrying out shack-to-shack searches for weapons using metal detectors.
United Nations – The UN official running East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, reiterated on Friday that he was "skeptical" about the ability of the Indonesian army to disband militias in West Timor.
Jakarta – Some 30 people were wounded in the capital on Thursday in clashes between anti-Soeharto and pro-Soeharto protesters and the police following the dismissal of corruption charges against the former president.
Jakarta – Five people were shot dead by police who were attempting to fend off a mob attacking a police station in the East Java town of Bondowoso, National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said on Thursday.
Jakarta – City authorities say they are fully prepared for violent protests, strikes and shortages when fuel prices are raised on Sunday.
The authorities said on Thursday 200 buses were on standby should bus drivers in the capital go on strike to protest the 12 percent fuel price hike.
Jakarta – In stunning TV footage, an Indonesian police officer aimed his grenade launcher into the face of a cowering protester and fired point-blank.
The protester, indignant at a court's dismissal of corruption charges against former President Suharto, was one of hundreds who had poured into rain-swept streets on Thursday.
Jakarta – Despite widespread public disproval, the city administration has apparently bowed to councillors demands and allocated them Rp 40.43 billion (US$4.5 million) of the 2000 City Budget to buy land and cars.
Marianne Kearney Jakarta – Malam Minggu or Saturday night is always busy in the glass and granite shopping centres that serve as Jakarta's social hubs.
Jakarta – The South Jakarta District Court dropped on Thursday multimillion-dollar graft charges against former president Soeharto after hearing medical arguments from an independent team of doctors that he was mentally and physically unfit to stand trial.
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – An Indonesian court yesterday dismissed corruption charges against former president Soeharto as the Government intensified its confrontation with his family and angry protesters clashed with police on the streets.
September 28, 2000
Padang – As many as 127 families from Aceh, who had to leave the restive town for security reasons, are facing uncertainty in West Sumatra. The families, supposed to be resettled in the Silaut VI resettlement area in the Pesisir Selatan regency, have yet to be properly handled. The local administration seems to be unprepared to receive them.
Jakarta – Six young Christians said Thursday they spent a sleepless night in the grounds of the Swiss embassy after jumping into the mission to highlight the sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands.
Jakarta – Security authorities confiscated hundreds of rounds of ammunition, explosive materials and several M-16 rifles from a ship which was attempting to dock at East Halmahera in the North Maluku province. The weapons and ammunition were seized from the motor boat Albatim which had traveled from Bitung in North Sulawesi to the Maba district, the capital of Central Halmahera.
Jakarta – At least 32 Christians were killed in a day-long attack by Muslims on an outlying village in Ambon, the capital of Indonesia's Maluku islands, a church worker said yesterday.
Jakarta – The economic crisis is still gripping the country, with the number of poor families rising from 6.9 million last year to 7.7 families this year, according to the results of a new survey. The number of poor families make up over 16 percent of the estimated total number of families in the country.
Dini Djalal, Jakarta – Tragedy is routine for Munir, Indonesia's foremost human-rights advocate. But the early September day when he learned of the death of Jafar Siddique Hamzah was especially grim. The body of the 36-year-old human-rights worker, an American citizen, was among five found in a ravine near Medan, trussed and bearing the marks of torture.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Prosecutors were deciding yesterday whether to arrest the youngest son of former president Suharto after a surprise ruling by the Supreme Court sentencing him to 18 months' jail on graft charges. Lawyers for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra said they were planning an appeal against the decision, which reversed a lower court acquittal last October.
Jakarta – The leader of a youth group linked to the Indonesian military has been detained for allegedly instigating and funding an attack on a United States consulate office to protest against US involvement in Timor.
September 27, 2000
Ali Kotarumalos, Jakarta – A bomb exploded outside the office of a prominent Indonesian human rights group Wednesday, just hours before the corruption trial of ex-dictator Suharto was set to resume. There were no injuries in bombing, the latest in series of blasts that have terrorized Jakarta, and damage was minimal.
Preparing the draft 2001 state budget that will be unveiled to the House of Representatives next week should be one of the most daunting jobs for the one month-old Cabinet, notably its economic team.
Budi Sugiharto/FW, Surabaya – Thousands farmers from all over East Javanese regional districts poured on to the streets in Surabaya, capital city of East Java province. They have been holding a rally on Wednesday demanding the East Java regional government to pay more attention to their declining standard of living.
Agencies in Jakarta – Two soldiers among 28 suspects arrested over a spate of bombings in the capital planted the explosives at the Jakarta Stock Exchange which killed 15 people, police said yesterday. But police said they were still looking for the mastermind behind the blasts.
Mark Dodd, Dili – Falintil guerillas, acting as scouts for Portuguese peacekeepers, have for the first time opened fire on suspected militia members conducting cross-border raids from West Timor.