Jakarta – Indonesia President Suharto, in a meeting with the nation's top business leaders Monday, said the central bank has spent 10% of its reserves, or $2 billion, intervening on beh

Human Rights Watch strongly protests the eight-year sentence handed down on December 18 to Indonesian human rights activist Agustiana bin Suryana after he was convicted of subversion by

Greg Earl, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Soeharto has dismissed half the directors of the country's central bank and established a group of private sector advisers amid a growing stru

Surabaya – In anticipation of the Session of the MPR in March next year, the Information Minister General (ret'd) Hartono said that he has issued strong warnings to fifteen newspapers a

More than ten thousand students at Yogyakarta's prestigious Gadjah Mada University have expressed the view that Suharto should not be nominated as president at next year's MPR session.

Tasikmalaya – The district court in Tasiklamaya has passed a savage sentence of eight years on an activist from Garut named Agustiana who was accused of being the brains behind the riot

Jakarta – President Soeharto found it extremely difficult to understand why the rupiah had continued to fall against the U.S. dollar, a senior minister said yesterday.

Sander Thoenes – The prospect of a sixth smooth re-election of President Suharto next year was put in doubt this week when a leading party failed to nominate him and a group of retired

Jakarta – Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana threw in the towel in the race for the vice presidency yesterday, saying she was not capable of carrying out the second top position.

Jakarta – Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat told people yesterday not to be provoked by baseless rumors about a coup attempt.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – As the Indonesian government ventures to overcome the current monetary crisis, rumours have started to circulate widely of an impending military coup in conne

[The following is an abridged translation of a statement sent to ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor) by the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (Kelompok N

Jakarta – World Bank country director for Indonesia Dennis de Tray urged the government and private sectors again yesterday to provide edible information to help store public confidence

The South Jakarta district court has not yet fixed a date for the subversion trial of Sri-Bintang Pamungkas, the former MP who is currently serving a one-year sentence for insulting the

Sander Thoenes – The warning calls of growing unemployment echo through the alleys and back streets of Indonesia's inner cities.

Jakarta – The Working Committee of the People's Consultative Assembly (BP MPR) has received eight names proposed as candidate for VP.

Ali Kotarumalos, Jakarta – A dissident group of former Cabinet ministers, ex-politicians and retired generals urged Indonesian lawmakers Tuesday not to re-elect Asia's oldest and longes

Greg Earl, Jakarta – Indonesia is facing the first serious annual contraction in its economy since President Soeharto came to power amid fears that the country can no longer service its

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – The main streets in Jakarta's business district were crowded on Friday.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Famine triggered by a severe drought has spread to Indonesia's Moluccas region, threatening more than 80,000 people, while relief efforts continued in remote I

Villagers in Riau province who fenced themselves in on ancestral land to back a compensation claim against Riau Andalan Paper and Pulp Company were driven from the area when heavily-arm

Nothing, until recently, has stood in the way of the sons and daughters of President Suharto, as they built up huge business empires through his 30-year reign.

Anthony Bevins – Oxfam yesterday accused the Government of being in breach of its own guidelines on arms sales.

Seth Mydans, Tangerang – When economists worry about Indonesia's slump – its sinking currency, its ailing banks and its nearly $40 billion bailout package – they worry about people like

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – More than 500 supporters of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri held a rowdy march yesterday after losing a crucial court battle linked to riots in the capita

Bekasi – The role of a paster is to help the "little" people, the poor and neglected. So it is natural for them to help those who are suffering.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Two Australian activists are in custody after being arrested by Indonesian security forces during a human rights demonstration on Wednesday in the central Jav

Controversial former MP Sri Bintang Pamungkas, serving a jail term for defaming President Suharto, will be put on trial for attempting to undermine the state, a report said yesterday.

Andreas Harsono – Rumours about the health of the president have shaken the country as it struggles with an economic downturn.

Surabaya – An increasingly excessive intervention by security authorities in many labor disputes has robbed workers of just and satisfying solutions, and of control over situations, an

Jakarta – The World Bank country director for Indonesia, Dennis de Tray, suggested yesterday that the government send signals to the market that it would undertake reform measures to re

Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – Election violence, choking smog and regional economic turmoil have badly hit Indonesia's tourism industry this year, a government minister said on Thursday.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – In one of the sharpest criticisms to date of East Asian business practices, a World Bank executive has warned that monopolies linked to President Soeharto's i

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian rupiah plunged more than 10 per cent yesterday amid growing concerns over President Soeharto's health and warnings of a loss of confidence in t

Jakarta – The excessive use of force along with the neglect of civil and political rights remained a disturbing feature throughout the year, a leading rights group said in its year end

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – Following an address from representatives of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), the Victorian Australian Services Union's Victoria

Sarah Peart – During Indonesian President Suharto's recent visit to South Africa and Canada, he faced hundreds of activists protesting against the human rights abuses in both Indonesia

James Balowski – According to People's Democratic Party (PRD) sources, Dita Indah Sari, chair of the PRD-affiliated Centre for Labour Struggle, was released from hospital on November 28

Jakarta – Jailed Indonesian labour leader Muchtar Pakpahan is being well treated by local doctors for an undiagnosed lung illness, a visiting Canadian specialist said on Wednesday.

The value of the rupiah fell sharply Monday to a new low of Rp 4,160 to the dollar.

'I think the speculators and the money mafia are a plot by American spies', says psychic Ki Gendeng Pamungkas. 'They want to undermine the government.

Jakarta – Indonesian officials denied on Tuesday that President Suharto was seriously ill after financial markets plunged on rumours the 76-year-old leader was ailing.

Despite protests at the previous banning of "Marsinah Menggugat" (Marsinah Accuses) on 26 November 1997, the performance scheduled for 6 December at the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF) i

Jakarta – Five members of the Indonesian People's Front (Front Rakyat Indonesia, FRI) began a hunger strike on the grounds of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation in Jakarta last Monday

Jakarta – A small pro-democracy group on Tuesday began the second day of a hunger strike to protest at Indonesia's invasion of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975.

When established a decade ago, the Reforestation Fund promised to be medicine to heal the environmental wounds left by Indonesia's alarming rate of deforestation.

[The following is a translation of a report sent to ASIET by the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (Komite Nasional untuk Perjuangan Demokrasi, KNPD).]

[A syndicated column circulated to a number of publications.]

[The following is a translation of a statement sent to ASIET (Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor) by the Central Leadership Committee of the People's Democratic Party (K

The Indonesian military is serious about redeeming its tarnished image, a top general said. The Nation's Rita Patiyasevi reports.