M.

Jakarta – The Central Jakarta district court acquitted two soldiers and two civilians of all charges in the July 27, 1996 Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) killings, but sentenced anoth

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The National Police named on Tuesday a former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman and his ex-deputy as suspects in the misuse of Rp 20.9 trillio

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Residents of Pinang Ranti, East Jakarta, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to the Jakarta State Administrative Court against an eviction plan following previous lawsuits

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – As many as 13,996 TNI (Indonesian armed forces) members and police officers will be involved in securing election stations during the 2004 general elections in

Jakarta – Syamsudin Haris, a political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), predicts that 60-70 per cent of old politicians will win seats in the People's Represen

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The City Council plans to approve the 2004 city budget of Rp 12.16 trillion (US$1.43 billion) on Tuesday, but several councillors and analysts say there is

International and local journalist groups have called for an independent investigation into the killing by Indonesian troops of a television reporter in Aceh province, six months after

Jakarta – The newly established Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) began on Monday its four-year term, but fell short of deciding on cases to prioritize.

Jakarta – Old names are still dominating the candidate members for the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) in the lists submitted on Monday, December 29, to the General Election Comm

Banda Aceh – Rebels in Indonesia's Aceh accused the military on Tuesday of executing a local television reporter who was found shot dead in the troubled province following a clash betwe

Michael Casey, Indonesia – Gunfire crackles and smoke wafts across a valley as an elite police unit storms a house filled with terrorists, rescuing the hostages and shooting dead the ab

Denpasar – TNI-AD (army) chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu has again reminded his officers to take a neutral stand in the coming elections, and not take sides with any of the political pa

Yogyakarta – Some 20 students of the Indonesian Students Association (HMI) and the Proletarian Student Community (Kompor) here Tuesday staged a rally to reject general elections and sea

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Squatters facing eviction from their homes on Jl.

Ambon – Army Chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu has wondered why Alex Manuputty, a criminal who has been convicted for subversive activities, can be easily welcomed in the United States.

Jakarta – Indonesian police will deploy up to 24,000 personnel to safeguard legislative and presidential elections in restive regions next year, a report said Tuesday.

Jakarta – The political parties contesting the 2004 general election will not be allowed to file the names of any more legislative candidates following the expiry of the deadline on Mon

Moch. N. Kurniawan and M.

A.

Looking at the security and political situation that prevails as the year 2003 nears its end, we can say that the pattern of conflict that has been affecting the security situation in t

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.

Jakarta – Dozens of activists and public figures have launched a national movement which will urge Indonesians not to elect "rotten" politicians in next year's legislative and president

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – The Bus Rapid Transit system, or busway, has attracted strong opposition from transportation experts and observers since it was first introduced by the Jaka

Doubts that the upcoming general election next year can bring significant changes for the better to this country's political landscape are growing as the General Elections Committee (KP

Jakarta – The leader of a new Indonesian anti-corruption body was sworn in Monday, vowing never to bow to pressure and promising to act swiftly to halt graft.

Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic country, is often described as a crucial ally of the United States in the war against terrorism.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The University of Indonesia (UI) Student Executive Council (BEM) together with BEMs throughout Indonesia have formed the National Student Alliance in the

Kurniawan Hari and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) will launch on Monday a nationwide information campaign on politicians running for office.

Andi Hajramurni and A'an Suryana, Makassar/Jakarta – Around 100 angry rank-and-file Golkar Party supporters held a demonstration here on Saturday to protest the change in priority numbe

Moch. N.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Prominent Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid is pursuing his presidential bid next year by launching a book on nation-building titled Indonesia Kita [Our Indonesia

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Dozens of vendors pelted PT Jasa Marga Jagorawi toll road officers with stones and chased after them with machetes and sticks on Sunday at about 4 p.m.

Jepara – Vice President Hamzah Haz has called on the people not to be carried away by the notion that the New Order era was a much better time because, he said, the regime's mistakes in

Barus – Starvation has begun to threaten some 140 traditional fishermen in Pasar Tarandam village, Barus subdistrict, Tapteng district, North Sumatra, because of the presence of Thai tr

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – After much debate and public criticism since November over a 30 percent tap water rate hike proposed by the city administration, councillors have decided th

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – More than 2,500 families will be evicted from their houses along Jl.

Jakarta – The total number of foreign intelligence agents in Indonesia is far greater than the estimation given by the army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu who said that there

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The power crisis, which started several years ago, became worse this year and the problem is likely to continue haunting the nation in upcoming years.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed on Friday two decrees, one on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and anothe

Jakarta – There is concern that the organisation of the general elections in Aceh will face a number of serious complications because there are a number of contradictory legal stipulati

Jakarta – At least 1732 state civil servants from a number of departments are still members or heads of political parties.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) has escalated its security crackdown on rebels of the Free Aceh Movement with the dispatch on Christmas of three battalions of the new

Jakarta – A warning by the Indonesian army's chief of staff that troops would be deployed if next year's general election turned into bloody chaos shows that the military wants to make

East Timorese freedom campaigners are mourning the death of a leading Australian human rights activist, Dr Andrew McNaughtan.

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – A local reporter working for SCTV private television station, Muhammad Nasier, filed a complaint on Friday with the Aceh Military Operation Command in Lhokseum

Kompas – A reexamination, evaluation and refinement of People's Representative Assembly (MPR) Decree Number VI/MPR/1999 and MPR Decree Number VII/MPR/1999 is being carried out by the de

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – It has been six years since the banking sector started its restructuring efforts.

After withdrawing as a presidential contender for Golkar Party, Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid seems to have run out of room to move in his efforts to seek a strong political par

Eva C.