Jakarta – An angry mob on the Indonesian island of Bali has attacked the offices of international conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), demanding a recent ban on trading green turtles be lifted.
They were among more than 100 protesters who marched on the WWF office in Bali's capital Denpasar yesterday, the group's program director Tim Jessup said today.
Associated Press in Dili – For the first time since East Timor broke free from Indonesian occupation last year, wage earners in the territory will have to pay income tax, according to a draft law introduced on Tuesday.
Bengkulu – Officials here said on Monday 48,000 of 251,000 hectares of conserved forest in the province have been damaged by illegal logging.
Associated Press In Jakarta – The fugitive son of former dictator Suharto remained in hiding on Tuesday as his lawyers claimed that inmates at a Jakarta penitentiary had made death threats against him.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – In the latest sign of rising disappointment in President Abdurrahman Wahid – a year after he swept to power – a poll has shown that most Indonesians want him sacked.
Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed on Monday a law on human rights tribunals which makes it possible to try past abuses. In a plenary session led by House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjoguritno, all 10 factions at the House endorsed the law.
Jakarta – Indonesia promised IMF officials it will direct windfall oil profits towards its staggering debt, accelerate asset sales and move on the privatisation leg of its bank recovery program, officials said Tuesday.
Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/Hendra & PT, Pekanbaru – Around 500 transmigrants of the Tapung village, Tapung Sub-district, regent of Kampar, South Sumatra, have staged a demonstration in front of the governor of Riau's office. The protestors, who are palm oil farmers, are demanding the governor approach the government, and increase the price of palm oil stems.
A Dipta Anindita/GB, Jakarta – Around 500 protesters from 13 urban communities in Jakarta staged a rowdy demonstration at the Provincial Legislative Council on Monday. They claimed their land had been illegally seized by police backed by hired thugs to make way for a new railway line.
Budi Sugiharto/Hendra & GB, Surabaya – Around 250 demonstrators from the Solidarity Front for PT Mepoly Labourers staged a demonstration at the East Java Legislative Council (DPRD). They accused the company of hiring the thugs who threatened them and stabbed a colleague at a demonstration at the factory on November 1.
Yogyakarta – Yulianti Safitri, 19, moved from one street to another across Sumatra and Java for six years until she ended up in this Indonesian royal city.
Banda Aceh – The provincial parliament in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has elected a new governor as violence between government forces and separatist rebels killed at least seven people, reports and police said Sunday.
Jakarta – Three members of the pro-independence civilian guard in Indonesia's troubled Irian Jaya province have been shot dead and at least 18 other people injured, including a policeman, a report and residents said Sunday.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – When he assumed office in October 1999 as Indonesia's first democratically elected president in four decades, Abdurrahman Wahid sought to show the country's once-mighty military who was boss. He appointed the first civilian defense minister. He dismissed a general implicated in the destruction of East Timor.
Sydney – Australia's strained ties with Jakarta continued to be hampered by Indonesian politicians exploiting the troubled relationship for domestic political advantage, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Sunday. He said some parlimentarians seemed determined to criticise Canberra no matter what efforts were made to improve the situation.
Brian Toohey – Indonesia is playing an ugly and dangerous game. Once again, Australian policy makers are only encouraging even worse behaviour further down the track by falling over themselves to make excuses for the Indonesians.
Jakarta – Indonesian legislators asked President Abdurrahman Wahid formally yesterday to seek the withdrawal of the tough-talking US Ambassador to Jakarta, Mr Robert Gelbard, the official Antara news agency reported.
Robert Go, Jakarta – Concern is growing in Jakarta that President Abdurrahman Wahid's supporters may take matters into their own hands and act against the leader's detractors, including top legislative assembly speaker Dr Amien Rais.
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Anti-American groups yesterday threatened to take 20,000 demonstrators to the streets of the central Javanese town of Solo today, calling for an end to US intervention.
Jakarta – Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra confirmed yesterday that the government intends to scrap the visa-free facility given to visitors from 49 countries, including Australia.
Rayhan Anas Lubis/GB, Banda Aceh – The offices of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA) in Banda Aceh, capital of Indonesias violence-ridden northern-most province, were raided over night by members of the police Mobile Brigade.
Jakarta – The fugitive son of former Indonesian president Suharto will likely meet prosecutors on Monday, his lawyers said Saturday as prison officials said his co-accused, Ricardo Gelael, had given himself up and begun serving his 18-month jail term late on Friday.
Robert Go, Jakarta – Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said that Indonesians are being unrealistic if they expect Mr Abdurrahman Wahid alone to lift the country out of the political and economic crises.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Jakarta – The US Ambassador to Indonesia, who stands accused by several MPs and officials of meddling in the country's internal affairs, yesterday claimed he was being targeted and smeared by opponents of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Jakarta – Indonesia losses US$1.5 billion in revenues due to poaching of fish every year, according to Maritime and Fisheries Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja.
Jakarta – Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands but it could lose about 2,000 of them within 100 years if global warming is not halted, an environmentalist has warned.
Jakarta – Local authorities vowed on Thursday to take stern measures against the proindependence Papuan taskforce who have commandeered a government-owned provincial art building as their headquarters.
Vaudine England – A week after vicious ethnic clashes broke out in Pontianak, the capital of Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, thousands of displaced Madurese are still too scared to leave seven refugee camps despite the lack of medical care and a shortage of water.
Banda Aceh – Three policemen and a civilian were killed as separatist rebels and Indonesian government forces clashed in the restive province of Aceh, police said Thursday.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Weeks of calls for President Abdurrahman Wahid to resign have resulted in affirmation of support from his Vice-President and signs that his staunchest critic, Amien Rais, is on a losing streak.
Budi Sugiharto/BI & GB, Jakarta – Following yesterday's demonstration by taxi drivers from Surabaya Taxi, around 200 Srikandi taxi drivers went on strike and demonstrated at the Surabaya Provincial Legislative Council Thursday over a new fee system set to be introduced today. Fees have been increased from Rp 77,000 (US$7.50) per day to Rp 111,000 (US$13) per day.
Jakarta – National Police spokesman Sr. Supt. Timbul Sianturi said on Wednesday that the police would soon question more former top government and civilian figures over the July 27, 1996 incident.
"Police will soon question those who attended a meeting prior to the July27, 1996 incident," Timbul told reporters at National Police Headquarters.
Kerry-Anne Walsh, Canberra – An investigation has been launched into allegations that Australian soldiers on duty in East Timor brutalised and tortured captured pro-Indonesian militia members.
NL& BS/Fitri & KR, Jakarta – Thousands of employees from 60 branches of the giant Hero supermarket chain across Java and Bali went on strike and rallied causing many stores across Jakarta to close to the public, Wednesday. The protesters poured into the Hero headquarters on Jl Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, and many others also rallied at their respective Hero branches.
East Timorese solidarity activists in Australia have condemned federal government attempts to maintain control of large parts of East Timor's oil-rich seabeds, accusing it of being "still greedy for blood money".
Max Lane – On August 22, hundreds of members of the Riau Farmers Union demonstrated outside the Indonesian People's Bank in Pekanbaru demanding rural assistance loans so that they could buy seeds for the next harvest season.
Protesting community members in East Kalimantan were violently attacked by the Indonesian Mobile Police Brigade (BRIMOB) on October 8. Seven protesters were shot, several were seriously wounded, and two were declared missing. The violence ended a peaceful, 14-day blockade of UNOCAL's Tanjung Santan oil refinery.
Jakarta – A pro-independence leader Wednesday ordered his supporters in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya to ignore a police order to vacate a building and lower a separatist flag flown there, a report said.
Jakarta – Tension between Indonesia's two main Muslim organizations heightened Wednesday with thousands of supporters of President Abdurrahman Wahid threatening their rivals with violence if its chairman seeks to unseat the president in mid-term.
Jakarta – Mines and Energy Minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, yesterday said that despite the grant of regional autonomy, oil and gas industry operations will still be controlled by the central government, although other aspects of the mining sector may be handed over to the regions.
Indonesia: An Eyewitness Account By Michael Maher Viking, Penguin Books 274pp. $30
Review by Pip Hinman – "Suharto had promised to build foundations that would secure Indonesia's future. Instead, he bequeathed his people a house of cards".
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Indonesia's dangerous flirtation with anti-Americanism is gathering pace in the wake of fresh threats to American tourists and the decision by the US Embassy in Jakarta to stay closed until at least tomorrow.
Calvin Sims, Jakarta – Relations between the United States and Indonesia have deteriorated rapidly after a series of high-profile disputes between the American ambassador and officials and lawmakers, who have accused the US of meddling.
Jakarta – The Indonesian rupiah plunged to its lowest level of the year Tuesday, prompting the government to promise further central bank intervention this week to prop up the ailing currency.
The rupiah touched a 10-month intra-day low of 9,500 to the dollar before staging a slight technical rebound to 9,350-9,380 by late afternoon. It closed Monday at 9,385-9,425.
Jakarta – An Indonesian parliamentary committee investigating financial scandals allegedly linked to President Abdurrahman Wahid was accused by a sacked member on Monday of working to bring down the embattled president, reports said.
Vaudine England – Attacks by men in Muslim garb wielding staves inside Jakarta nightclubs and bars – and last week at City Hall – are unlikely to happen again, according to a senior policeman.
Hamish Mcdonald, Tarawa, Kiribati – Pacific nations – including Australia – have given secessionists in Indonesia's West Papua province an important win with a formal statement of concern about bloodshed in the territory.
Jakarta – State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek called on labor unions to help promote the 1992 law on social security programs for workers, saying the way the government enforces the law is not effective enough.
Banda Aceh – At least seven bodies were found, one of them of a policeman, in the separatist-plagued Indonesian province of Aceh, police and residents said Monday.
Vaudine England, Jakarta – Months after an accord was signed between Aceh's separatist rebels and the Indonesian Government, the brutal war in the province has deepened.