Journalists around the world are trying to get the prime minister of Timor-Leste (East Timor) to abandon a criminal complaint against two Timor-Post reporters who say he was involved in government

Arya Dipa, Jakarta – Press freedom in the country is in relatively good shape, however, the independence of media organizations is threatened by growing interference by certain groups in society as

Dili, East Timor – Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by the country's prime minister that has alarmed press freedom groups.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-116-2016

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Jakarta – Sony Misdananto, a journalist at television broadcaster NET TV, was allegedly assaulted and intimidated by soldiers while reporting on Islamic new year celebrations in Madiun district, Ea

Area Dipa Tangerang, Banten – The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), an international network of media assistance groups, is drawing attention to the Indonesian government's policy to restr

Jakarta – The Indonesian Press Council has agreed to help the Timor Leste Press Council build up its newly created institution.

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – Association of Journalists for Diversity (Sejuk) declared on Wednesday four reporters winners of the 2016 Diversity Awards for their efforts in campaigning for peace and plu

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) this Monday asked the Prime Minister of Timor-Lest to stop defamation charges against two Timor Post journalists and to immediately release them.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the South East Asia Journalist Unions (SEAJU), along with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Freedom House, in reiterating its ca

The Indonesian Government is taking issue with claims it is not ensuring media freedom.

Indonesia has been given a 2017 deadline to address press freedom violations in its Papua province.

New Zealand news media are "ignoring" the biggest story in the Pacific region in spite of a social media revolution taking the storytelling to the world.

Indonesian police have told journalists from an independent West Papua news outlet to co-ordinate with them over coverage of public demonstrations.

Journalists have been intimidated and threatened while covering an election in the Mamberamo Raya regency of Indonesia's Papua province.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua claims Indonesia is paranoid about regional efforts to seek accurate information regarding Papua region.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on Indonesia's authorities to stop violating the rights of journalists in West Papua, where the Jayapura police prevented reporters from covering a peacef

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Indonesia's authorities to stop violating the rights of journalists in West Papua, where the Jayapura police prevented reporters from covering a peaceful de

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-043-2016

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Jakarta – Literary forms like the short story and the poem nowadays feature less and less in printed media because of market conditions, an artist says.

On April 22, 2016, several global media groups wrote a letter to Timor Leste Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo, urging him to withdraw the defamation case he filed against two local journalists.

Pito Agustin Rudiana, Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Buwono X has defended the Yogyakarta metropolitan police for shutting down an event commemorating International Press

Bambang Muryanto – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will investigate alleged human rights violations in the recent shutting down of World Press Day celebrations by the police an

Thirty journalists, representing a variety of mass media outlets in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), staged a rally to demand guarantees for press freedom on Tuesday to commemorate World Press Fr

Bambang Muryanto – The Yogyakarta Police dispersed members of the city's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) as they attempted to commemorate World Press Day on Tuesday.

Lyndal Rowlands, United Nations – High-level defamation, libel and sedition cases in Asian countries are sending signals to journalists that writing critical journalism can cost millions of dollars

Jayapura, Jubi – Journalists have been banned from covering the arrest of protesters who support the West Papua Liberation (United Liberation Movement for West Papua) in the square of the Mobile Br

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the South East Asia Journalist Unions (SEAJU) join international organisations the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Freedom House in

Jakarta – Indonesia is ranked 130th out of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index surveyed by Paris-based international media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Margaret Wise, NADi, Fiji (The Fiji Times/Pacific Media Watch) – Giving voice to the voiceless and championing the rights of all people is essentially about telling the truth.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) with its affiliates the Timor Leste Press Union (TLPU) and the Timor Leste Journalist Association (TLJA) condemned the actions of the Government of

Tito Sianipar, Jakarta – Indonesia will host the World Press Freedom Day on May 3 and 4 next year.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate Timor Lorosa'e Journalists' Association (AJTL) in strongly criticizing the defamation suit filed by the Timor Leste Prime Minis

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – Last year saw more journalists become victims of violence and various other forms of abuse and disruption when doing their jobs, reports the Alliance of Independent Journalis

[This statement was originally published by SEAPA on 5 February 2016.]

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – The chairman of the Jayapura city branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Victor Mambor, said although President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has declared t

Phelim Kine – There are new hazards for foreign journalists attempting to report from Indonesia's restive easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua (generally referred to as "Papua"): visa deni

Tika Primandari, Jakarta – Deputy Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir denied that the Foreign Ministry has imposed a ban against foreign journalists from entering Papua to cover human righ

Edo Karensa, Jakarta – Media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Indonesian government for imposing a ban on a French journalist after releasing a documentary on the co

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the Indonesian government's refusal to let French journalist Cyril Payen visit Indonesia following the documentary he made about West Papua, the Indonesian

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, Jakarta – Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) has said that freedom of the press declined last year and would most likely continue to as there were still a numbe

Padang – Terror and violence continue to stalk and threaten journalists operating in Sumatra, the Padang Press Legal Aid Institute (LBH) announced in its end-of-year report.

Jakarta – The Indonesian police were responsible for a third of reported assaults against journalists throughout 2015, an advocacy group says.

Sumit Galhotra – "Change does not come overnight," President Joko Widodo's right-hand man, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, told an international delegation of 10 media and freedom of expression

Padang – Dozens of journalists affiliated with the West Sumatra Anti-violence Journalists Coalition (KWAK) staged a rally on Monday at the temporary Padang headquarters of the West Suma

Pekanbaru – Police in Pekanbaru, Riau, have come under fire for clashing with university students and beating a journalist at a congress for the Islamic Students Association.

Victor Mambor, Jayapura, Jubi – The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI-Indonesia) in strongly criticizing the actions of

James Burke – Dutch journalist and filmmaker Rohan Radheya spent five months undercover to document West Papua's ongoing struggle for independence from Indonesia's brutal rule.

Phelim Kine and Andreas Harsono – In September, Jakarta-based French journalist Marie Dhumieres decided to test whether Indonesia's decades-long barring of foreign media from Papua had

Victor Mambor, Jakarta, Jubi/IFEX – An international delegation of media and freedom of expression organisations met with the Indonesian government to discuss the state of media in the country.