Janeman Latul – The government will scrap import duties on equipment needed to build power plants to encourage independent companies to build plants in the second phase of its "fast-tra

Emmy Fitri – The ongoing debate over recent book bans aside, one thing is certain: The written word still has a powerful influence on society, sharpened and fueled by today's digital er

Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta – Nasir Abas' easy smile grows when asked to explain the aims of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the radical Southeast Asian terror group he once led and which stands ac

Ulma Haryanto & Febriamy Hutapea – A senior lawmaker on Thursday accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of capitalizing on the prison corruption scandal to boost his own popular

Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Embattled Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati got high grades for her performance on Wednesday in front of the House of Representativ

Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Febriamy Hutapea – Two Political parties have removed three outspoken members of the House of Representatives special committee investigating the PT Bank C

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is being asked to immediately issue a presidential regulation in accordance with a request by the 2004-2009 House of Representatives (DPR) t

Adianto P.

Indonesia has asked to re-write a new regional trade pact with China, citing fears of job losses due to a flood of cheap Chinese imports across various sectors, officials said Wednesday

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The business community sees a fairly bright economic picture this year, revising upwards its growth projection for a number of key industrial sectors, in par

We hear all kind of stories about life behind bars. Mostly unpleasant or horrific, they reflect the rough conditions of prison life.

John Roosa, Vancouver, Canada – When I heard the news that the Indonesian translation of my book, Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Soeharto's Coup d'etat in Indo

Jakarta – Hundreds of workers from labor unions across Jakarta rallied outside City Hall on Tuesday to demand a revision to the provincial minimum wage, which they said was too small.

Tia Hapsari, Depok – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro will investigate the Facebook account of the Indonesia Communist Party to know the motive behind its creation.

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – Indonesia's military has failed to dismantle its "dangerous business empire" as ordered under a 2004 law designed to enhance civilian rule in the budding democ

Febriamy Hutapea, Dion Bisara, Anita Rachman – Indonesian Vice President Boediono on Tuesday exasperated lawmakers and activists with vague and reluctant answers to questions from the H

Thousands of Indonesians have flocked to guerrilla screenings of Balibo since the Australian film was banned last month.

The political fortunes of the National Awakening Party were dealt another blow on Tuesday, after a spokesperson for Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh said a rival party would be launched.

Jakarta – Last year's poor performance of law enforcement institutions, especially the district courts, in fighting corruption has once again been thrust into the spotlight after a rece

A former prisoner revealed on Metro TV on Tuesday the systematic abuse faced by new prison inmates unless they are able to provide security money payments to guarantee their own welfare

Hans David Tampobolon and Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Even after public pictures of five-star hotel facilities given to rich prisoners inside their cells, the government has yet to take fi

Jakarta – State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek has warned of massive layoffs this year following the implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade area (ACFTA) starting this year.

Paul Maley – Four of the Tamil asylum-seekers rescued by the Oceanic Viking and offered a special deal by the Rudd government will be refused visas after ASIO determined them a threat t

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – A sex-and-murder scandal reached a new climax yesterday when the sacked head of Indonesia's anti-graft commission dismissed claims he forced a beautiful y

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Armed Forces and the National Team for the Military Business Transfer denied a claim from New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday that the

Ulma Haryanto – Prisoners with money live like royalty in Indonesian prisons, enjoying just about anything their hearts desire.

Ulma Haryanto – Amid public outrage over the revelation that moneyed convicts could serve their prison sentence in luxury, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar on Monday pr

Febriamy Hutapea – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been accused of attempting a "trick" to legitimize the bailout of PT Bank Century after the fact.

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – While the murder of Nasruddin Zulkarnaen was initially regarded by police and the public as just another murder case, shocking surprise after surprise has em

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – Disappointed by a protracted land dispute, thousands of villagers in South Sumatra have reclaimed plantation land managed by state-owned plantation company PT

Nivell Rayda & Antara – In what could be a major blow to the respected Corruption Eradication Commission, Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD has reportedly forwarded allegations t

"The Indonesian government's planned reforms are totally inadequate...

Ardian Wibisono & Antara – In the latest and most authoritative warning about a new region-wide free-trade agreement with China, an executive with the state social security provider

Around 200 employees of Indosiar, a private television station in Indonesia, were staging a rally in front of their office building on Jalan Daan Mogot in West Jakarta on Monday demandi

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights has deepened its investigation to find out whether gross human rights violations were committed against the thousands of people living

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Yenny Wahid, the daughter of late former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, has rebuffed peace overtures by National Awakening Party chairman Muhaimin Iska

Oyos Saroso H.

Febriamy Hutapea – Pramono Anung, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, said he was shocked after finding out that some prisoners at East Jakarta's Pondok Bambu Detention Cent

Student groups and activists plan to hold rallies on Jan. 28 and Jan.

Apriadi Gunawan and Khairul Saleh, Medan/Palembang – Demands to block TV programs the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) considers detrimental to the mentality and morality of the public ha

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Around 100 members of a church congregation in Bekasi held their Sunday service under tight police security after hundreds of local residents held a rally to

Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – The weekend election of economic czar Hatta Rajasa to lead the National Mandate Party should provide much-needed positive political news

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Last Thursday's testimony by three-star police general Susno Duadji in the trial of the murder of Nasruddin Zulkarnain, has broken the public's trust in the

Wicak Hidayat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), an organisation banned in Indonesia, has again resurfaced. This time on Facebook.

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The power of Facebook to rally for social and political causes has triggered a number of left-leaning Indonesian Facebook users to re-establish the bann

The 'judicial mafia' eradication task force conducted an unscheduled inspection at Pondok Bambu Detention Center in East Jakarta on Sunday night and discovered that a number of inmates

This question should make it into a pocketbook of party jokes: What is it that students hate, teachers dislike, parents abhor, the public decries, but bureaucrats love?

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Indonesian Muslim organizations have been asked to remind followers not to follow in the steps of recent church attacks in Malaysia, following a Kuala Lumpur co

Camelia Pasandaran – With one Islam-based political party already tearing itself in two, the National Mandate Party was running the same risk by selecting Hatta Rajasa and Drajad Wibowo

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The National Commission on Human Rights has extended to April the working period of an ad hoc team tasked with investigating allegations of gross human rights