A New Zealand-based rights group has welcomed the Indonesian President's latest promise to open up West Papua to foreign media.

Ross Tapsell, guest contributor – Over the weekend Indonesia's President, Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, promised to give foreign journalists full access to Papua – the home of a decades-long se

WestPapuaMedia is greatly concerned that the statements made on May 9 by Indonesian President Joko (Jokowi) Widodo in Jayapura regarding the ending of the foreign media ban for journali

Ina Parlina, Merauke – In a bold move to fulfill his campaign pledge, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo opened access for foreign journalists and international organizations to enter Papua and West Pa

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 70 journalists from various print and electronic media outlets in Papua on Monday staged a rally at the Imbi Park in Jayapura, urging the police to take action

Merauke, Papua – Foreign journalists must first obtain permits if they want to cover Papua, and there will be screening, according to Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs

Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has declared Indonesia's easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua as open to foreign journalists, as part of what he calls a new paradigm in addressing longstan

Jakarta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) says redress for human right's abuses against people who peacefully express support for self-determination in Papua is often obstructed by a lack of transparency

Jakarta – Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto confirmed on Sunday that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had made an official press statement revoking the restrictions that prevented foreign journalists

Malang – Indonesia has dropped to 138th place in the latest World Press Freedom Index, as journalists declare police an enemy of free speech and activists call for an end to restrictions on news co

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) named the police enemies of press freedom for the fourth time during an event held to commemorate World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has urged the government to end restrictions on media access in Papua, as the world commemorates World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.

International Press Freedom Day is a golden opportunity for the Indonesian government to finally end its official chokehold on foreign media access to Papua.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Dozens of activists from different NGOs staged "a silent rally" in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon, urging President Joko Widodo to open Pap

London (Tapol/Pacific Media Watch) – The London-based human rights organisation Tapol is today launching a global appeal to President Joko Widodo for "free and open access" for international journa

An open letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Mr Joko Widodo
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Jl. Veteran No. 16
Jakarta Pusat Indonesia

Jayapura, Jubi – Youth, Student and Papuan People Movement (GempaR) urged the Indonesian Government to open the democratic space and immediately open the access for foreign journalists in Papua.

Bob Dietz – With more than 50 years of restricted media access, one of the least covered armed conflicts in the world is the long-simmering struggle between Indonesia's military and the secessionis

Fadli, Batam – The perception of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as a media darling took a battering on Monday, as senior press figures slammed the President during the official commemoration of Nat

Fadli, Batam – Press Council chairman Bagir Manan warned that the Indonesian press was currently facing problems rooted in partisanship, media owners' involvement in politics and phony media.

Fadli, Batam – The Newspaper Publishers Union (SPS) has admitted that 20 percent of its 500 members, as well as a huge number of media companies not affiliated with the union, pay their journalists

Hans Nicholas Jong – Violence against journalists is on the rise thanks to the way the police handle journalists in the country, a year-end report from the Alliance of Independent Journ

Armandina Moniz, Dili (Notisias Online/Pacific Media Watch) – Timor-Leste's Court of Appeal has once again delivered a judgment declaring the controversial Media Act unconstitutional.

Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – The International Partnership Mission to Indonesia, an international and regional organization working in the freedom of expression, urged the government of Ind

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch) – The editor of the independent West Papua Media news service monitoring the two Indonesian-ruled provinces has called for more vigilance and better train

Andi Hajramurni and Ainur Rohmah, Makassar and Semarang – Journalists and other circles in Makassar, South Sulawesi, have condemned police brutality against students and journalists whe

Jakarta – The South Sulawesi Police will form a joint team to investigate the assault of several journalists who were allegedly beaten by police personnel during a raid at Makassar Stat

Paris (Reporters sans Frontieres/Pacific Media Watch) – French journalists Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat have returned to France after being detained for 11 weeks in the Indonesi

Amy McQuire – In spite of the outcome, free press advocates are warning the charges laid against a pair of French journalists could make it even harder to report from the province.

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the imminent release of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, two French journalists who have been held for the past 11 weeks in Indonesia's eastern p

Michael Bachelard, Jakarta – Two French journalists have been sentenced to two months and 15 days imprisonment in an Indonesian jail for reporting in the West Papua province while on a

Jayapura – Two French journalists were on Friday handed short jail terms for illegally reporting in Papua, sparking calls for the new Indonesian government to lift long-standing restric

Phelim Kine – Indonesia's media freedom sustained a worrying blow on Friday when a court in Jayapura, on the country's easternmost island of Papua, convicted French journalists Thomas D

Media Release on behalf of West Papua Action Auckland, EPMU Print and Media Council and the NZ Media Freedom Network.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura District Court resumed on Tuesday a trial of two French journalists, Thomas Charles Dandois and Marie Valentine Bourrat, hearing from three w

Efforts by Indonesia's new President to solve political, social and economic issues in Papua region may be restricted by a lack of support from national parliamentarians.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Jayapura District Court in Papua commenced a trial on Monday involving two French television journalists, Thomas Charles Dandois and Marie Valentine L

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A Golkar Party legislator has criticized President Joko Widodo for saying "Merdeka," or "Freedom," during his inauguration speech, suggesting it was

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – The fate of two French journalists detained for reporting on an outlawed independence movement in Papua without the correct visa will be decided this week.

Two French journalists who were detained by the Indonesian authorities on 6 August are to face trial on Monday (20 October) for "abusive use of entry visas".

Held since early August, Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois are to go on trial next week

Paulina Quintao – Timor-Leste will create a new institution to regulate media.

Agus Sigit, Yogya – The Papua Student Alliance (AMP) held an action at the zero kilometre point in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on the afternoon of Monday October 13.

Masrul Fajrin – The Papua Student Alliance (AMP) in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya held a protest action in front of the Surabaya Grahadi building (governor's office) dema

Hamish Fitzsimmons – Lateline has been told postgraduate students are providing information to Indonesian intelligence about Australian citizens and has obtained photos that are claimed

Michael Bachelard – The Abbott government has risked insulting Indonesia again by calling explicitly for more openness in its most sensitive province, West Papua.

Edo Rusyanto, Jakarta – The Blacksteel Group, a property developer, is developing three malls in Sorong regent, West Papua, at a total investment of Rp 600 billion ($50 million), the co

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club is calling on the incoming administration of Joko Widodo to immediately lift all restrictions on foreign journalists travelling to the Papua regi

Auckland (Pacific Media Watch/The Fiji Times) – The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) has called on Prime Minister John Key to pressure Indonesian President Joko Widodo to rel

A Green Party MP has urged the returning government in New Zealand to make good on the recently passed parliament resolution to press for media freedom in West Papua.