Tom Pepinsky – Indonesian politics has been rocked by two major developments in recent months, both involving the governor of Indonesia's capital and most important city, Jakarta.

Hamish McDonald – Tolstoy once wrote a short story about a greedy peasant offered as much land as he could get around in a day.

Alexander R Arifianto – On May 8, 2017, retired general Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, issued a statement stating that after a careful study, the Joko Wi

Tim Lindsey – The conviction for blasphemy last Tuesday of the outgoing governor of Jakarta, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was not a surprise.

Jakarta – On Wednesday and Thursday, 60 commissioner candidates for the next National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) take part in a public dialogue, as part of their selection process.

Hendri Yulius – On 30 April, Indonesian police raided a "gay sex party" in Surabaya and arrested 14 men. Police forced the men to undergo HIV tests, explicitly violating their rights to privacy.

George Quinn – As governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) faced off against Islamist opponents in Jakarta's recent election campaign a remarkable story emerged from the grimy wharves and warehouses

Pat Walsh – The recent sentencing of Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, the Christian Chinese-Indonesian Governor of Jakarta, to two years in jail for blasphemy will leave many people in the Asia-Pacif

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has suffered two successive setbacks since his ally and former deputy Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok as he is widely known, was accused of insulting Islam earlier

Kyle Knight – His neighbors had been watching him for weeks. Twenty-year-old Muhammad (a pseudonym) rented a room in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province.

Binoy Kampmark – "The result of all of this, besides the abuse of law, is that people may be afraid to exert their rights to be critical of Muslims who use religion to justify inexcusable actions."

Sidney Jones – Two back-to-back decisions have left Indonesia more religiously polarised than ever. One was politically inept, the second deeply unjust.

The jailing of Jakarta's Christian governor for two years for blasphemy is a shocking and harsh ruling in a case that should never have been brought.

Veronica Koman – The need for press freedom in West Papua has never been more urgent: surging numbers at demonstrations over the past year have been met with thousands of unlawful arrests of peacef

John Pilger – Filming undercover in East Timor in 1993 I followed a landscape of crosses: great black crosses etched against the sky, crosses on peaks, crosses marching down the hillsides, crosses

Phelim Kine – An Indonesian foreign ministry official has confirmed the government has maintained a secretive interagency "clearing house" that has long obstructed foreign journalists from travelin

Jeremy Menchik – The recent election defeat of Jakarta's Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) raises important questions about whether the Indonesian president Joko Widodo (Jokowi) wil

Dili – Coffee trees loom over a village in the hills above Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste.

Syarif Syechbubakr – In late 2016 and early 2017, Indonesians were shocked by series of mass demonstrations against Jakarta's Chinese and Christian Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama over alleg

Raynov Tumorang Pamintori and Ricky Gunawan – Amnesty International recently released its 2016 report on the global state of the death penalty.

Zuraidah IbrahimPhila Siu – Oblivious to the oppressive heat and the smoky emissions from the stalled traffic, a middle-aged Indonesian couple ambles up and down the pavement outside the office of

After 54 years of struggle under Indonesian rule, is freedom finally in sight for West Papua? Danny Chivers investigates.

Damien Kingsbury – Timor-Leste is a country increasingly able to stand on its own two feet. At least, that is the sense within Timor-Leste.

Victor Mambor and Cyril Payen – As Indonesia prepares to host World Press Freedom Day, accusations of hypocrisy are growing louder.

Jim Dowling – Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty Four.

Susan Connelly – In the great traditions of Australian war remembrance we remember all those Australian youngsters who died in the World Wars and since.

Erin Cook – The heavy loss of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama to former education minister Anies Baswedan signals rising intolerance and demonstrates the influence of hard-

The long, divisive campaign for governorship of Indonesia's capital city Jakarta is finally over, with results showing a decisive victory for the challenger Anies Baswedan over the controversial in

Tim Lindsey – The decisive defeat of Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta's litmus-test gubernatorial election is a triumph for hard-line Islamist agitators.

FNU Testriono – Voters in Indonesia's capital have chosen a former cabinet minister who sought the support of hardline Muslims opposing his contender – who is embroiled in a blasphemy case – as the

Jeremy Luedi – The successful conclusion of East Timor's 2017 presidential election has been lauded as another positive milestone for the country's fledgling democracy.

Ian Wilson – Judging from national and international headlines, Jakarta's gubernatorial election on 19 April represents not just a major turning point for the nation's capital and city of 12 millio

Jakarta – The commotion over the Jakarta gubernatorial election in the last six months has been both a relief and a concern.

John McBeth, Jakarta – Over the past two decades, Bangkok has made great strides in public transport, building the so-called Skytrain and a subway in the expectation it would relieve the once-canal

Bec Strating – On 10 April this year, the 2006 Certain Maritime Agreement on the Timor Sea (CMATS) was terminated.

Kyle Knight – The rights of all Indonesians are at greater risk following a Constitutional Court ruling this week that the central government could no longer repeal local Sharia (Islamic law) ordin

Chris Biantoro – Since Suharto stepped down in 1998, and political reform occurring for the last 18 years, Papua has yet to enjoy real reform, as enjoyed by other provinces in Indonesia.

Andreas Harsono – The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to health did something remarkable last week: he traveled to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Michael Hart – In the Indonesian province of West Papua, a movement for independence has existed since the early 1960s.

Syafiq Hasyim, Jakarta (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network) – The ongoing Jakarta gubernatorial election race has made international headlines for one thing: the massive and systematic use of relig

Jakarta – The blacklisting of Jack Hewson, a freelance journalist working for Al Jazeera shows the government's paranoia towards foreign journalists.

Andrew Mantong – When US President Donald Trump came to power, there was widespread concern that the United States' image in Muslim-majority Indonesia would fall to pre-Obama levels.

Stephen Grenville – In October 2018 Indonesia will host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Jon Emontmarch, Jakarta, Indonesia – Crowned with spiky feathered headdresses and daubed with face paint, scores of protesters gathered outside the Jakarta offices of an American mining giant last

Sue Ingram – Last week, Francisco Guterres became Timor-Leste's first party-affiliated president.

Jokowi should show political will, not just rhetorical support

Jonas Guterres and Khoo Ying Hooi – The March 20 presidential election was the first election held in Timor-Leste without assistance from the international community since the United Nations (UN) M

Damien Kingsbury – East Timor's presidential election looks to have produced a strong victory for Fretilin's serial candidate, Francisco Guterres, known as Lu-Olo.

Flavio Simoes – The big day has finally arrived for voters all across Timor-Leste and, for the first time since the restoration of independence in 2002, for Timorese also living in Australia and Po

Michael Leach – The count so far in Timor-Leste's presidential election appears to have delivered a decisive victory for FRETILIN's Francisco 'Lu Olo' Guterres.