Opinion leaders say the Indonesian government's plan to invite foreign observers to monitor the implementation of the 1997 general election is a progressive step, which will not only im

Jakarta – President Suharto's children and other relatives will contest general elections next month while opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and her supporters have been barred, a

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democracy Party, Megawati Sukarnoputri, plans to withdraw support for the party in the elections as a protest against the man

Granada, Spain – Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) was awarded the International Press Institute's "Free Media Pioneer '97" prize Monday at the opening of the group'

Today on April 1 the repressive apparatus of the New Order has acted even more brutally against the movement to establish democracy in Indonesia.

Jakarta – Indonesia's minority parties said yesterday that election funding given by the government was too small to cover campaign costs for the country's May polls.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – The appearance of President Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, with Indonesia's most influential Muslim leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, at a weekend rally si

Deutsche Presse Agentur in Jakarta – A court has sentenced 30 people to between three days and three months in jail following riots last week.

Jakarta – Indonesia's main Muslim party has accused a number of ulamas of inciting last week's riots in a small Central Java town, a report said yesterday.

On 29 May this year, the Indonesian people will be expected, indeed required, to take part in a general election, the results of which will have no effect on the way the country is run.

On 29 May this year, the Indonesian people will be expected, indeed required, to take part in a general election, the results of which will have no effect on the way the country is run.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Indonesia's favourite guessing game – who will be the next Vice-President – has been moved up a notch this past week with calls to political parties to name their c

Jakarta – Trials for about 30 people charged with involvement in riots in Indonesia's Central Java last week have already begun.

Jakarta – More than 30 people have been arrested since riots broke out in central Java early this week, the official Antara news agency reported Saturday.

Semarang – The Central Java provincial branch of the United Development Party (PPP) is asking the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to probe alleged human rights violatio

Leading members of the Dayak community have been blamed for the violent ethnic conflict which took place in West Kalimantan earlier this year.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Police fired rubber bullets into a rioting Muslim mob ahead of an appearance by President Soeharto's daughter Mrs Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana at a pro-Gov

Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian Government has cancelled its invitation to foreign observers to monitor the May national elections, saying Indonesia will not be judged by fore

The New Order military regime apparently has still not ended its hunt for PRD cadre.

Agencies in Jakarta – Rioters attacked the homes of ethnic Chinese around a town in central Java yesterday during a rampage apparently sparked by a popular singer's switch of political

John McBeth, Jakarta – Just back from Germany in early February, Science and Technology Minister B.J. Habibie was summoned to a five-hour meeting with President Suharto.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia's government Thursday halted development of the Busang gold deposit, once touted as the world's richest, one day after Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold

Agencies in Jakarta – Police on Bali have detained four members of the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) who were planning to hold a political "long march" between Bali and Jakarta, a re

[Sue Lloyd-Roberts, BBC Special Correspondent, exposes the trade that gives the Indonesian regime the muscle to clamp down on dissent.]

Jakarta – The Indonesian Democracy Defense Team (Tim Pembela Demokrasi Indnesia, TPDI) has confirmed that four PDI pro-Megawati Sukarnoputri figures have been called by the police in re

A judge in Britain has blocked attempts to stop the government from selling military equipment to Indonesia.

Washington – The US has decided to postpone the sale of nine F-16 jet fighters to Indonesia because of human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country, the White House has announ

The prosecutor in the trial of Dita Indah Sari, chair of the Indonesian Workers Centre of Struggle PPBI, and Coen Pontoh, coordinator of the education and propaganda department of the N

Speaking to a huge crowd of about five thousand people, Megawati Sukarnoputri (the ousted leader of the PDI who has been excluded from contesting the elections on 29 May) said that the

Jakarta – The detention of Sri Bintang Pamungkas (General Chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI), Julius Usman (Chairman), and Saleh Abdullah (Secretary General), whic

Semarang – Military authorities in this Central Java city are planning to deploy at least 20 pythons to safeguard the May general election and the March 1998 presidential election.

Jakarta – The United States should set aside human-rights concerns and go ahead with the delayed sale of F-16 warplanes to Indonesia, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Col

Surabaya – V/Brawijaya Commander Maj-Gen Imam Utomo has said that his party [the army] will forbid a PDI long-march which will who's route will go through Java-Bali.

[Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Institute for the Study of the Press and Development (LSPP).]

Susan Schmidt, Washington – Three months after he left his Justice Department job in disgrace in 1994, Webster Hubbell scheduled a 7 a.m.

Jim Erickson, with bureau reporting – Nuclear generating plants spew no pollutants into the atmosphere, they provide far more energy per unit of fuel than any other source, and spent fu

[The original chronology covered the dates March 24-26 1997 and it was assumed that the writer meant February not March.

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – President Suharto has defended Indonesia's electoral process, insisting it is not a device to re-elect his Government.

Background

Ong Hock Chuan, Jakarta – With a ruling party victory a foregone conclusion in Indonesia's May 29 general election and President Suharto almost certain to stand for another term, specul

Jakarta – The Minister of Justice, Oetojo Oesman, said that they [the ministry] always monitors the actions of all judges, including those trying the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) acti

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – He owns forests, paper and plywood mills, airlines and banks, and last month he brokered a deal that gave him a major share in what may be the world's largest gol

9.05 Students gather outside the Social and Political Sciences Faculty

9.30 Activist Helmi, with fist raised in air, starts the action calling on students to get involved.

After more than 50 years of independence, Indonesian politicians and government officials are debating whether civil servants should be given the freedom to vote for any of the politica

We have just received a report that human rights activist Saleh Abdullah has been arrested as part of a general crackdown on non-governmental organizations in Indonesia.

It was probably the first time that a person was arrested for issuing and sending greeting cards. Eraordinary!

Jakarta – A total of 273,653 hectares of rice field disappeared between 1980 and 1996, with an average of 17,000 hectares lost everyyear.

How could it be, that nobody in Europe seems to mind that this Indonesian company, which is employing (or, rather, exploiting) female East Timorese workers, and is exporting its product

Jakarta – An aide to a prominent former legislator has been arrested on charges of publishing a banned book by his boss that authorities say insults President Suharto, police said Frida

In a country where the army makes no bones about channeling its support to the ruling political group, Golkar, talk of factionalism within Indonesia's military always causes concern.