Anything concerning the Catholic Church is extremely sensitive in Timor-Leste, as Raimundos Oki, the editor of The Oekusi Post website can confirm, reports the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Timor-Leste's authorities to put the public interest first by dropping charges against a journalist accused of violating judicial confidentiality for reporting that 30 girls were illegally detained and forced to undergo virginity tests as part of the investigation into an American Catholic priest accused of raping minors.

Jakarta – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Tuesday during a visit to Indonesia that he hoped to boost trade ties between the countries and seal a decades-long bid by his nation to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.Ramos-Horta met his counterpart Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on his first state visit to neighbouring Indonesia since he was elected

Sirwan Kajjo, Dili – In a deeply Catholic country, accusations that an American priest abused dozens of children at an orphanage stunned many in East Timor.

Jakarta (VNA) – Timor-Leste has reiterated its readiness to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) while working with the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Fact-Finding Mission to the country.

Spencer Zifcak – Last week Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus put an end to Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery's criminal prosecution.

Collaery was prosecuted in 2018 and was facing five charges, including allegedly conspiring with his client, "Witness K", to disclose confidential information about the Australian government's spying operation in Timor-Leste.

Oscar Grenfell – Last Friday, Labor government Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that he was ending the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, a lawyer who had been charged with breaching national security laws by allegedly exposing Australian spying on East Timor.

Binoy Kampmark – The Anglo-Australian legal system has much to answer for. While robed lawyers and solemn justices proclaim an adherence to the rule of law, the rule remains a creature in state, more fetish than reality.

Australians in general are not hobbled by the convention of neither confirming nor denying what is as plain as day ("Bernard Collaery's leaking charges over East Timor operation dropped on Mark Dreyfus' orders", July 8).

Bernard Keane – Bernard Collaery's immediate ordeal is over. For four years he has been pursued by a vindictive government hellbent on punishing him not merely for helping, with Witness K, to expose the malignant crimes of the Howard government in Timor-Leste, but for trashing basic concepts of the rule of law to do so.

Kieran Pender – It was easy to feel hopeless, watching from the sidelines as a brave whistleblower went through hell.

Michael Pelly – The unprecedented decision by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to discontinue the prosecution of former ACT attorney-general Bernard Collaery over national security leaks could lead to a substantial bill for the Commonwealth.

Christopher Knaus and Paul Karp – Timor-Leste's president, Jose Ramos-Horta, has welcomed the "wisdom and fairness" of the decision to end the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, saying the lawyer is a "good man" who represented the best of Australian ideals.

Michelle Grattan – The Albanese government has acted quickly to abandon the prosecution of Bernard Collaery, who was charged in relation to the leaking of information about Australia's alleged spying in Timor-Leste.

Bernard Keane – The prosecution of Bernard Collaery for his role in the exposure of the Howard government's bugging of the Timor-Leste cabinet in 2004 is over. This afternoon, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that he had no-billed the prosecution, under section 71 of the Judiciary Act.

Christopher Knaus – On the last day of summer, 2013, lawyer Bernard Collaery sat down to pen a missive to a client known only as Witness K. The client, a veteran of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, had spent years stewing over his involvement in an Australian mission to bug the offices of Timor-Leste during 2004 negotiations to carve up crucial oil and gas resources.

High-profile lawyer Bernard Collaery says he can finally move forward with his life after Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus ordered longstanding leaking charges against him to be dropped.

Mr Collaery had been facing charges for four years after he was accused of leaking classified information about an alleged Australian spying operation in East Timor.

Lisa Visentin – Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has ordered the Commonwealth to drop the prosecution of lawyer Bernard Collaery, four years after he was charged with leaking classified information about Australia's alleged spying operation in East Timor.

Raimundos Oki, chief editor of news portal Oekusipost.com, has been accused of breaching judicial secrecy following an investigative report concerning the detention and forced virginity testing of 30 underage girls in 2020. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the charges and calls on the Timor-Leste government to immediately rescind the case.

Police in Timor-Leste have charged a journalist for allegedly violating judicial secrecy by publishing reports that question the virginity tests of some underage girls, who were sexually abused by a convicted former priest.

Journalist and editor-in-chief Raimundos Oki of Timor-Leste's online media Oekusipost.com was today accused of "violating legal secrets" related to his reporting about the case of illegal detention and forced virginity testing of about 30 underage girls in Oe-Kusi Ambeno during 2020.

Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has vetoed a proposed law on presidential responsibilities after a court ruling granted his appeal and declared it unconstitutional.

Police in Timor-Leste have arrested two foreign nationals for allegedly being involved in a human trafficking case in which several women were smuggled into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without proper documents.

Inday Espina-Varona – Augusto "Gus" Miclat's experience as an activist and peace builder in Mindanao during the years of struggle against the Marcos dictatorship grounded him while helping the people of East Timor weather the violence that dogged their struggle for independence.

Parker Novak – China and Australia's duelling Pacific tours make final stops. East Timor deals cap Chinese foreign minister's 10-day Pacific blitz. Anthony Albanese talks with Timor-Leste leadership as he flies to Indonesia.

Thousands of Timor-Leste Catholics lined the streets of capital Dili to observe the feast of Corpus Christi in a solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament.

The annual celebration was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid pandemic restrictions.

Pat Walsh – Pope Francis recently announced that on 27 August 2022 he would make the archbishop of Dili, Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Costa, a cardinal. The church in tiny East Timor, population 1.3 million, most of whom are Catholics, has come a long way in a short time.

Joao da Cruz Cardoso – On May 20, Timor-Leste commemorated the 20th anniversary of its independence and celebrated the inauguration of its newly elected president Jose Ramos-Horta, who was beginning his second term in the office.

Timor-Leste's president has expressed concern over the Catholic-majority country's budget allocation and stressed the importance of prioritizing people most affected by natural disasters and the global economic slowdown.

The national major seminary in Timor-Leste has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Catholic university in Indonesia, aiming to improve the educational quality of seminarians.

President of Timor-Leste Jose Ramos-Horta and visiting Foreign Minister Wang Yi have expressed common willingness to strengthen regional cooperation and safeguard multilateralism.

During their meeting in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, Ramos-Horta said his country fully supports the Belt and Road Initiative.

Andrea Fahey – China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week concluded a Pacific tour – featuring some diplomatic gains and losses – with a 24-hour visit to Timor-Leste. The visit marks the island neighbour to Australia's north as another important player in the regional strategic contest.

Lisa Visentin – Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says there are "levers available" to the government on the handling of the Bernard Collaery case but remained tight-lipped about any steps the Commonwealth may take in the matter, as advocates renewed calls for Canberra lawyer's prosecution to be abandoned.

By UCA News reporter – Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has described a new law on the president's responsibilities, which was passed swiftly before his inauguration, as unconstitutional.

Nina Nguyen – East Timor President Ramos-Horta has ruled out a security pact with China's ruling communist regime but defended his country's decision to sign a slew of deals across areas including agriculture and economic cooperation.

China's foreign minister signed a series of agreements in Timor-Leste on his final stop of a 10-day diplomatic blitz of the South Pacific on Friday, boosting ties between Beijing and Southeast Asia's youngest country.

A parliament minister has brought defamation charges under Timor Leste's Penal Code against journalist Francisco Belo Simoes da Costa, following coverage of an allegation of ministerial corruption.

Ryan Dagur – Timor-Leste is celebrating the appointment of Archbishop Dom Virgilio do Carmo da Silva of Dili as the Catholic-majority country's first-ever cardinal.

The 54-year-old archbishop was one of 21 new cardinals announced by Pope Francis on May 29 and will receive the red hat on Aug. 27. He is one of six new cardinals from Asia – five archbishops and one bishop.

Christopher Knaus – The president of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, has accused former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer of "avoiding and distorting" the issues around the 2004 bugging scandal, saying recent comments ignored the fact that Australia had spied "on behalf of oil companies and using the cover of Australia's supposedly altruistic foreign aid program".

Allegra Mendelson, Dili, East Timor – In the middle of his speech marking the 20th anniversary of East Timor's restoration of independence, newly inaugurated president Jose Ramos-Horta stopped for a moment to tell the audience – more than 100 guests from around the world – that he had invited his "friends" to join the celebrations.

Elizabeth Byrne – Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery will face trial in the ACT Supreme Court in October, four years after he was first charged with conspiring to release classified information about an alleged spying operation in East Timor.

Allegra Mendelson, Dili, East Timor – Jose Ramos-Horta, who came out of political retirement to run for president of Southeast Asia's youngest nation a second time, has a raft of challenges as he embarks on his first full week in office.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – New East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta wants Australia to back a major infrastructure drive in south-east Asia's newest nation, saying it's in the new government's strategic interest to retain a "pro-Australia, pro-Western values" near neighbour.

Ryan Dagur – Timor-Leste's new president Jose Ramos-Horta has pledged to maintain democracy and peace in the Catholic-majority country stressing his commitment to defend all sections of society, including sexual minorities, regardless of ideology and religion.

Alex Soares with Luke Henriques-Gomes – This week, Timor-Leste celebrates 20 years of independence. On 20 May 2002, the United Nations formally handed power to the new Timorese government and, thus, to its people.

Putu Indah S, Nabil Ihsan – "Every drop of blood shed in the Motherland will never be forgotten; it will be remembered under the red-and-white banner."

Lisa Palmer – Timor-Leste turns 20 on the 20th of May 2022. It has a freshly minted new (and former) president, Dr Jose Ramos Horta who will be sworn into power on the same day. Fresh parliamentary elections await a date to be fixed sometime over the next 12 months.

Parker Novak – This week, Timor-Leste will celebrate its 20th anniversary as an independent nation and inaugurate Jose Ramos-Horta as its new president. Since re-gaining independence in 2002, the world's third-youngest nation has built a functioning state and vibrant democracy from near-scratch amid trials and tribulations that would challenge any nation.

Randy Mulyanto and Sophie Raynor, Jakarta, Indonesia – East Timor's president-elect won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his efforts to liberate his country, but Jose Ramos-Horta may find charting a sustainable path for one of the world's most oil-dependent nations to be his toughest challenge yet.

Dili – Former Timor-Leste independence fighter and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was to be sworn in as the president of Asia's youngest country on Thursday night as it marks its 20th anniversary of independence.