New York – An Indonesian search team this morning recovered the body of reporter Ardiansyah Matra'is in a river in the small town of Merauke, on the southern tip of Papua province, acco

Banjir Ambarita, Papua – The body of Ardiansyah Matra'is, a journalist for Merauke TV, was found in the Gudang Arang River in Merauke, Papua, on Friday morning, two days after he had be

Jakarta – A second journalist death reported today (30/7) four days after a senior journalist with Indonesia's major paper Kompas found dead at the beginning of the week, which sparked

Ismira Lutfia – The recent passage of a bill aimed to protect US citizens from libel lawsuits in foreign countries has once again put the spotlight on Indonesia's defamation laws, with

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A planned dialogue between the central government and Papua to seek a comprehensive settlement to long-standing problems is in limbo because both sides sti

Kinanti Pinta Karana, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists said that they are planning to investigate the death of Kompas journalist Muhammad Syaifullah depending on the au

Kinanti Pinta Karana & Nivell Rayda, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – The head of Kompas newspaper's Kalimantan bureau, Muhammad Syaifullah, was found dead at his house in Balikpapan,

Indonesian journalists covering green issues are "frequently threatened or bribed," Reporters Without Borders warned two months before the suspicious death of environmental journalist M

Nivell Rayda & Dessy Sagita – Indonesia Corruption Watch investigator Tama Satrya Langkun, who was badly beaten by group of men Thursday morning, said he saw the attack as a threat,

Ismira Lutfia – Tempo magazine and the National Police have agreed to settle their rift amicably, although the magazine has stood by its use of what police say was an offensive caricatu

Hasyim Widhiarto and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Unidentified assailants attacked the head-quarters of Tempo magazine early Tuesday in an incident widely believed to be linked to the pu

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – National Police spokesman Insp. Gen.

Condemnation of the Molotov bomb attack on the editorial offices of Tempo magazine in Central Jakarta has been swift.

Ismira Lutfia - A rights activist on Sunday criticized the National Police for missing the point when they filed a criminal complaint against Tempo magazine over a cover caricature of a

Jakarta – The National Police Chief Gen.

Tempo magazine appears to have thumbed its nose at threats of legal action from the National Police.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police officially filed a criminal report with their own detectives Thursday alleging the cover illustration on this week's Tempo magazine const

Elisabeth Oktofani, Yogyakarta – The media wield enormous influence in informing public opinion, and in Indonesia this power has often been used to discriminate against marginalized soc

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police have taken offense at the cartoon piggy banks depicted on the cover of Tempo magazine's latest issue, and are threatening to sue the news

Jakarta – The National Police said it is planning to file lawsuits over Tempo magazine's latest edition, which featured a cover story on the enormous wealth of several senior police off

Jakarta Globe – The news magazine that police allegedly did not want people to see hit newsstands in Jakarta on Tuesday, a day after mystery men reportedly purchased 30,000 copies of th

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – It was still 2:30 a.m. when a group of 10 men arrived at a major magazine and newspaper distribution outlet in Harmoni, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Farouk Arnaz, Nurfika Osman & Nivell Rayda – The case of the disappearing magazines led police on Tuesday to accuse Tempo of making up the tale of having some 30,000 copies of this

Nurfika Osman – Tens of thousands of copies of the latest edition of Tempo magazine were purchased by mystery buyers early on Monday morning.

Jakarta – The law that serves as a basis for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to ban the circulation of books is no longer contextual or relevant under the current situation.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights Ifdhal Kasim denounced Tuesday the Attorney General's Office's right to ban books as unconstitution

Jakarta – Chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights Ifdhal Kasim said Wednesday that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) should not have the right to ban books on the basis of

The chief editor of an independent newspaper in Indonesia's Papua region has denied a claim by Papua's police commander that journalists covering regional stories focus only on negative

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-079-2010

Dear friends,

Fidelis E Satriastanti & Ismira Lutfia – Ineffective law enforcement and heavy-handed tactics by logging companies are the main causes of the intimidation suffered by journalists wh

James Balowski, Jakarta – Worker, student and non-government organisations commemorated May Day across Indonesia, taking up a range of themes.

Jakarta – Earlier this month on May 3, mass media workers throughout the world commemorated World Press Freedom Day.

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – Tanah Abang Police sub-precinct chief Comr.

Baudoin Koenig, a French independent TV documentary maker due to be expelled from Indonesia has today been allowed to stay in the country.

A journalist was badly wounded after his head was beaten with a bottle by a member of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in Petamburan, Central Jakarta on Wednesday night.

Erwida Maulia and Nethy Darma Somba, Jakarta/Papua – When French journalist and lecturer Baudouin Koenig and his student Carole Lorthiois arrived in Indonesia a month ago, they thought

Ismira Lutfia – Press advocacy groups are pushing for a public trial for a military officer accused of beating up an Acehnese journalist, despite sanctions already imposed on the office

Nivell Rayda – Local members of the media have condemned Tuesday's detention of two French journalists in Papua, saying the move undermined freedom of the press.

Anita Rachman – Seeking a media outlet free of the chains of corporate ownership, a group of journalists is planning to develop a Web site that will carry stories conventional news orga

Ismira Lutfia – The threat of going to jail or under-going a lengthy prosecution under the country's criminal-defamation laws may be pushing journalists to censor themselves.

Jakarta – Prita Mulyasari, Khoe Seng Seng and Tukijo are ordinary people who have been branded criminals under the defamation law simply because they complained, a human rights report s

Ismira Lutfia & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Indonesia's credentials as a democratic success story are under threat from a worrying trend toward litigation in response to free speech

Jakarta – Indonesian journalists took the opportunity of Press Day on Monday to affirm their commitment to fight against all forms of repression towards journalists that have been hinde

Nivell Rayda & Ismira Lutfia – Taking note that today is World Press Freedom Day, activists and experts said on Sunday that journalists in Indonesia still faced intimidation and the

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-045-2010

Dear friends,

Jakarta – During a judicial review hearing on Wednesday, Constitutional Court judges questioned the AGO on its criteria for public order disruption under the 2004 AGO law on the monitor

Jakarta – Press and law experts worry that the vagueness of the 2008 Freedom of Information Law, which will take effect in late April, will have a negative impact on press freedom.

Ismira Lutfia & Putri Prameshwari – Media organizations and activists have denounced the seizure of Batam-based Erabaru radio station's transmission equipment by local authorities,

Ulma Haryanto – Two laws that give the Attorney General's Office power to ban books should be reviewed, a lawyer representing the Islamic Students Association told the Constitutional Co

AHRC-STM-049-2010