Jakarta – Election violence hit several towns on the fourth day of the country's electoral campaign.
In Pekalongan, a coastal town in northern Central Java, supporters of the ruling Golkar party clashed with those of the Muslim-led United Development Party (PPP) on Wednesday, leaving five people injured and several buildings damaged, Kompas said.
Eyal Press – Never underestimate the power of partisanship to alter the consciousness of America's pundits and policymakers.
The ink was barely dry on the Presidential task force agreement on sweatshops when new labor protests erupted because of inadequate pay at Nike factories. On April 22 and then again on April 25, 10,000 workers went on strike at a Nike factory in Indonesia. During the same week, 1,300 workers went on strike at a Nike factory in Vietnam.
Agencies in Jakarta – The minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), already hit by a damaging split, may cancel election campaigning in the second city of Surabaya after a brawl yesterday between rival supporters.
Jakarta – The trial of the case of insulting the president involving Aberson Marle Sihaloho, was coloured by a walk out by the accused and his lawyer Luhut MP Pangaribuan.
In the South Central Jakarta court yesterday, the court showed a video recording of an Aberson speech at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Headquarters in Central Jakarta on July 13, 1996.
Jakarta – Nine of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) were sentenced earlier today (28/4) to prison sentences of up to 13 years. The accused refused to attend the reading of the court's verdict after declaring that they had lost their trust in the Indonesian justice system.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Riot police violently broke up a protest outside a courtroom in the capital yesterday where pro-democracy activists were sentenced to jail terms of up to 13 years.
This Monday, 28 April is the day of the verdict for eleven PRD activists. Although they have already stated that they do not acknowledge this show trial, Budiman, Garda Sembiring, Iwan, Pranowo, and Suroso arrived at the Jakarta Central Court on Jalan Gajah Mada. They arrived at 9.56am.
John Stackhouse, Jakarta – On the second day of a national election campaign, an Indonesian court sentenced five young pro-democracy activists yesterday to jail terms of up to 13 years for speaking out against the government.
Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Soeharto Government has announced that it will appeal against a 13-year sentence for subversion handed down yesterday on the leader of an anti-government group, demanding a harsher penalty for the activist it blames for last year's political riots in Jakarta.
Bandung – Pajajaran University students held a rally in Bandung on 26 April on the first anniversary of the Ujungpandang tragedy. The rally was marred, however, by a scuffle, and a student was arrested. Prior to the event, university authorities were checking student identification cards before the students were allowed on campus.
Dili – Four men have been arrested in the killing of a member of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party during an election meeting in East Timor, police said Monday.
The arrests brought to six the number of men held in connection with the killing Sunday of Alsino da Costa, 29. It was the only violence on the first day of the official campaign period for May 29 general elections.
Independent Media Indonesia opined (5/28): "During this cooling-off week, as we ponder programs and campaigners, it is difficult to draw logical conclusions. What stays in mind is only the unrest. However, there is nothing we can do. As bad as the political parties may be...we must vote for one as better than the others."
Dili – Four men have been arrested in the killing of a member of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party during an election meeting in East Timor, police said Monday.
The arrests brought to six the number of men held in connection with the killing Sunday of Alsino da Costa, 29. It was the only violence on the first day of the official campaign period for May 29 general elections.
As Indonesia begins its "Festival of Democracy" – the 1997 parliamentary election campaign – Amnesty International is calling for the immediate release of a group of student activists sentenced today to lengthy prison terms in Jakarta for their entirely peaceful pro-democracy activities.
Jakarta – Five East Timorese, including a junior high school student, have gone on trial in the territory in connection with the death of a soldier on a Christmas eve, Indonesia's official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.
Antara said the trial of the defendants, aged between 17 and 22, started on Saturday in Dili, East Timor's capital, under tight security.
Tangerang - About 6,000 workers from PT HASI (Hardaya Aneka Shoes Industry) Tangerang-producer of Nike shoes-went on strike and broke the glasses of the plant's office on Friday (25/4).
Scores of people have been injured in a riot near the Indonesian capital Jakarta by several thousand workers from a shoe factory who were demanding higher wages.
The Republika daily says after a rally for better pay, workers went on a rampage, throwing objects at the factory which produces Nike shoes, and damaging vehicles.
Jakarta – An Indonesian plant producing shoes for U.S. athletic-wear maker Nike Inc shut down for the weekend following protests over wages by thousands of workers, a plant official said on Saturday.
Jakarta - Eight groups within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Moslem organization, yesterday endorsed boycotting the election as a form of political participation.
Almost immediately afterward NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid lashed out at the groups, saying they had overstepped their boundary and used the organization's name arbitrarily.
Jakarta – The accused in the subversion case Wilson carried out a walk out action. He objected when the testimony of the witness Didit Sutopo and Dita Indah Sari from their Preliminary Investigation Reports (BAP) were read. He continued to ask that those involved be presented.
The General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Union, Bill Jordan, has written to the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation, Michel Hansenne, complaining about the heavy sentences of 6 and 4 year passed down respectively on trade union activists, Dita Indah Sari and Coen Hussein Pontoh in Surabaya last week, and calling on him to raise the
Eighteen people believed to have been detained in East Timor on suspicion of links with the armed resistance in East Timor, Falintil, are feared to be at risk of torture or ill-treatment in custody.
Jakarta – Megawati Soekarnoputri in her daily message, Wednesday (23/4), said, the entire membership and supporters of the Megawati Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) throughout the country will not take part in campaign activities in the name of the PDI during the campaign period of the 1997 General Elections.
On April 22 in Surabaya, the kangaroo court handling the case of Dita Sari handed down a sentence of six years. The prosecution had demanded nine years. Dita's co-defendants, Coen Hussein Pontoh and Mohammed Soleh were sentenced four years each. Dita and her lawyers immediately denounced the court as a farce and swore to continue the struggles.
PRD activist and student leader, Mohamad Sholeh, 23, who is a member of the PRD's student solidarity organisation SMID, in Surabaya has been sentenced to four years. The court declared that Sholeh, a fourth year student at a private university, had been found guilty of engaging in subversion by trying to undermine the state ideology.
Henk Bouwmans (Original in Dutch, translation by TAPOL), The Hague – The Dutch Parliament is furious about a letter from the Indonesian embassy about the East Timorese human rights activist and Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta. In the letter Ramos Horta is accused of acting purely for personal ambitions by setting up a government in exile.
Press reports have stated that the Surabaya court has handed down a sentence of six years for Dita Sari, President, Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI) and four years for Coen Husein Pontoh, from the National Peasants Union (STN).
The prosecution had demanded nine years.
Angered by the failure of their employers to pay the increased minimum wage, at least 13,000 workers of the Hardaya Aneka Shoes Industry, Tangerang, who manufacture Nike footwear, marched ten kms to the local assembly building in Tangerang.
They started the march at 7 am and formed a line three kms long, bringing traffic to a complete halt
Uli Schmetzer, Karawang – President Suharto has controlled this sprawling island archipelago for 30 years with a military fist tucked into the silky glove of progress.
Suharto's formula has been simple and effective: Give the people more goods, visions of a gilded future and information that promotes nationalism and glorifies the regime.
Jakarta – A strike wave since yesterday is continuing in Tangerang and Jakarta. The economic wheels of Tangerang city, Tuesday morning, were suddenly paralyzed.
Banks and offices were closed for three hours because 10,000 workers from the shoe factory PT Hasi held a rally from their place of work to the local parliament, around seven kilometers away.
Jakarta – Supporters of Indonesia's popular ousted politician Megawati Sukarnoputri disrupted a rally held by a rival faction of her opposition party, reports said Tuesday.
Jakarta – A free speech action was held by PRD supporters in the grounds of the Central Jakarta State Court, Monday (21/4). Scores of PRD supporters who had early packed the court room of the accused Budiman Sudjatmiko unfurled red and white banners reading "Democracy or Death".
Jakarta – Fifteen East Timorese will face trial in the territory this week for their alleged involvement in the killing of a soldier on Christmas eve, Indonesia's official Antara news agency reported on Tuesday.
Fresh violence between supporters of rival political parties erupted in four towns in Java province at the weekend injuring at least 20 people.
In Solo, United Development Party (PPP) supporters clashed with security officials on Saturday, leaving at least 20 people injured.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – An activist on trial for the capital crime of subversion yesterday lambasted President Suharto, the Government and court system and challenged Indonesians to boycott next month's elections.
A court in East Java Tuesday handed down six and four year jail sentences for two pro-democracy activists accused of subversion, their lawyer said.
The court handed the sentences to Dita Indah Sari and Coen Pontoh for the PRD for inciting labour riots (sic) in the province.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Two of the nation's largest Christian organisations have made statements backing the right of their congregations to vote freely in the May 29 general elections.
As members of the PRD, we have decided no longer to attend the court sessions that will decide our fate.
Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Parliamentary elections will not be held in Indonesia until the end of May, but the governing party has already announced its winning total: 70.02 percent of the vote.
Speaking to a thousand Golkar activists in Padang, West Sumatra, the party chairman, Harmoko (who is also Information Minister) said that anyone who calls on members of the public to boycott the elections is acting unconstitutionally. He called on GOLKAR members to report people making such calls to the security authorities so that measures can be taken against them.
S N Vasuki – Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday issued a manifesto, ahead of next month's parliamentary elections, warning that a "restoration of democracy" was the only solution to the country's economic and political problems.
Jakarta – Hit by poor sales, Indonesia's national distributor has offered to sell "Timor" cars to government officials in various provinces, it was reported yesterday.
Between 10000 and 15000 PDI supporters massed on the streets of Jakarta on April 15 demanding that the elected leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Megawati Sukarnoputri, be allowed to participate in the May 29 general elections.
The East Timor Human Rights Centre still holds grave fears for the safety of Ildefonso de Deus dos Santos (also known as "Maudino"), a 17 year old student who disappeared on 14 July in Gleno in the Ermera district of East Timor. Maudino disappeared during house to house raids conducted by Indonesian soldiers following a fire at the Gleno market.
For the second day running, 350 workers of PT Farmindo, a wood processing company, stopped work. The company is situated in Tangerang, part of the industrial belt of Jakarta. On the second day the workers showed their anger and started to attack some of the factory buildings.
Louise Williams, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Muslim migrant workers will be repatriated from West Kalimantan following months of ethnic clashes, in a blow to Indonesia's ambitious program of moving millions of people away from the overpopulated centre and onto its remote outlying islands.
Susan Sim, Jakarta – Supporters of ousted opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri yesterday broke down the gates leading to Parliament House as they faced police in a five-hour stand-off.
Some five thousand pro-Megawati members of the PDI filled the street in front of the DPR/MPR building on Tuesday, 15 April, causing extensive traffic jams.
The prosecutors in the nine cases against PRD activists in two district courts in Jakarta presented their summing up to the court on Monday 14 April.