Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The government, the House of Representatives and the National Police defended on Tuesday the House's authority to assess presidential nominees for National Police chief.

Jakarta – Activists on Tuesday criticized Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo's proposal to give $75.8 million to each political party, saying that it would have the opposite effect to that intende

Margareth S.

Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – Former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Jimly Ashiddiqie slammed Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Tuesday for remarks earlier this week suggesting that the National P

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The National Police on Monday continued its crackdown on dissident voices by filing libel lawsuits with the Jakarta Police against members of the National Commission on Huma

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Amid accusations that Indonesia has used faulty data to justify its executions of drug convicts on death row, the National Narcotics Agency, or BNN, suggested a modest decl

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has criticised the Indonesian government's breakup of demonstrations in West Papua last year, saying it breached international conventions on tortur

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) says it has found at least 454 irregularities in the 2014 budget for the Jakarta Education Agency, estimating that markups were respons

Jewel Topsfield – Indonesia could release 10,000 asylum seekers to Australia if Canberra continues to antagonise the republic over the execution of the Bali nine duo, an Indonesian minister has war

Jakarta – Indonesian demonstrators on Tuesday delivered bags of coins to the Australian embassy, saying they were handing back tsunami aid money after Canberra sought to use the issue to pressure J

Suherdjoko, Jakarta – Indonesia is facing a proxy war in which a third party is being used to attack Indonesia in any way, Army chief of staff Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said on Tuesday.

Estevao Nuno – National Member of Parliament MP Virgilio da Costa Hornai, President of Commission F (for health, education, culture, sports, veteran affairs and gender equality) called for the Mini

Simon Roughneen, Dili – Just three weeks into his new job, Rui Araujo, East Timor's new prime minister, faces the daunting task of filling the shoes of a national icon, Xanana Gusmao.

Dewanti A.

Katharina Lestari & Abby Seiff, Banda Aceh – On a recent Friday, three stragglers sat sipping the dregs of their coffee as the city of Banda Aceh closed up around them.

Fedina S.

The West Papuan representative body applying for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group says it always expected Indonesia's government to increase efforts to counter the application.

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – The chairman of the independent team tasked to resolve tensions between the National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Ahmad Syafii Maarif, urged Presi

Jewel Topsfield, Jakarta – Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri has reportedly told the current president not to grant clemency to those on death row, blaming drugs for the spread of H

The Solomon Islands Foreign Minister says the Melanesian Spearhead Group as a collective supports the right of West Papuans to self-determination.

Kennial Caroline Laia, Malinau, North Kalimantan – The recent death of a farmer in Sumatra's Jambi province has highlighted the need to address land conflicts often interwoven with rampant deforest

Jakarta – Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakin Saifuddin has said that capital punishment does not violate human rights.

Jakarta – International Women's Day (IWD) was commemorated by various different elements of society who held a demonstration in the vicinity of the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta

Tom Allard, Cilacap – Indonesia's president Joko Widodo says he is open to abolishing the death penalty, but not for a "long time" and only if the Indonesian people want it.

Hamim Thohari, Yogya – In commemorating International Women's Day (IWD), students from the Student Alliance for Women held a peaceful action at the Jl.

Jakarta – Commemorating International Women's Day (IWD), scores of workers from the International Women's Day United Struggle Committee (KPPIWD) held a protest action at the Hotel Indonesia traffic

Jakarta – Legislators, historians and human rights activists have hailed a local military commander's move to have his soldiers in Semarang, Central Java, watch "The Look of Silence" by award-winni

Khaerur Reza, Yogya – Because of the great many government policies that fail to side with women, women are still treated second-class citizens and only identified by the kitchen, the bed and washi

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto and antigraft activists have stepped up their demand for the National Police to comply wi

Fedina S. Sundaryani, Jakarta – More than a dozen of Comr. Gen.

Banda Aceh – The sharia police in Aceh Besar regency, Aceh, conducted a public caning of six residents on Friday for cock-fight gambling.

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is struggling to prepare the tender process for a large number of infrastructure projects to be developed this year, foll

Margareth S.

Haeril Halim and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – As the National Police ignored a recommendation from the Press Council and pressed ahead with its move to process a complaint against Tempo weekly's cover st

Ezra Sihite, Erwin Christianson & Fana F.S.

Lyndal Rowlands, United Nations – In Timor-Leste, the gap between rich and poor is most keenly felt by rural women and children.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – One of the world's copper and gold giants, PT Freeport Indonesia, has pledged that it would process some of its copper concentrate at a smelter to be built by the Pap

A West Papuan leader says Indonesian lobbying of regional governments should not dilute the case for West Papuan membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

Dominic Diongson – President Joko Widodo's plan to issue a regulation focusing more on graft prevention rather than enforcement – meaning investigation, arrest and prosecution – is a troubling shif

Bambang Muryanto, Magelang, Central Java – Muslim and Buddhist leaders from South and Southeast Asia have issued the Yogyakarta Statement, which refuses the use of Islam and Buddha in the politics

Haeril Halim and Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials, including directors and investigators, have pledged to continue demonstrating against KPK leaders until th

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Responding to mounting opposition from the public and current staff members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the acting chairman of the antigraft body, Taufie

Jewel Topsfield, Tom Allard – The Denpasar police chief has denied a grinning photograph of himself and condemned prisoner Andrew Chan was a heartless selfie.

Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi visited three Pacific countries this week, namely Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Solomon Islands and Fiji, to strengthen relations betwe

Tom Allard – The absurd display of military muscle during the transfer of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to the site of their execution was as much about whipping up the nationalist fervour of In

Courtney Sherwood – An Oregon woman arrested on a drug charge while traveling in East Timor last September and who has maintained her innocence, has been allowed to leave the country after six mont

Hamish McDonald – Just about everyone following last year's elections in Indonesia got hooked by the beguiling Jokowi story: the Javanese boy raised in a squatter home on the banks of a

Raras Cahyafitri, Jakarta – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is urging copper miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara to complete negotiations over the amendment of the firm's contract of work (CoW

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has completed her one-week tour of four pacific nations, including three members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), which has jus