Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Defense and technology company Lockheed Martin has confirmed that the United States government will not stand in the way if Indonesia acquires the latest version of F-16 fighter jets and their advanced weaponry system.

Fardah – Natural disasters are a day-to-day occurrence in Indonesia, as some 10 natural disasters occurred daily in January-March 2021, up from nine per day during 2020, of the total of 3,253 natural disasters that took place.

Andi Jatmiko and Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – An Indonesian court has sentenced a politically influential firebrand cleric to eight months in prison for violating health protocols by holding gatherings attended by thousands of supporters during the coronavirus outbreak.

Indonesia's government is being urged to release the West Papua pro-independence activist Victor Yeimo.

The West Papua National Committee spokesman was arrested earlier this month over his alleged role in widespread anti-racism protests in 2019. Yeimo is facing 11 charges, including treason, arson, and incitement.

Laurens Ikinia – Papuans are in mourning after the recent passing of Klemen Tinal, the Vice Governor of Papua Province.

News of his sudden death at Abdi Waluyo Hospital in Jakarta on Friday 21 May at 0400 am local time came as a shock to the indigenous people of the Indonesian-Melanesian province.

Access Now joins 24 organizations in calling on Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to repeal MR5 – a new law that jeopardizes freedom of expression through harsh intermediary liability measures.

May 28, 2021

Jakarta – Amid the deepening trust deficit between the Papuan people and the government, many in the country's easternmost territory suspect that the disruption to the local internet service in April was actually a deliberate move to silence anti-government critics and activists.

Indonesia has certainly handled its fair share of foreigners defying COVID-19 protocols all throughout the pandemic, but two UK nationals arguing that they should be allowed to skip the country's quarantine requirements based on "nature's law" might just be the strangest one yet.

Jakarta – Indonesia has launched the 5G internet network for public use in some parts of the Greater Jakarta area on Thursday, marking a milestone for the country's effort to improve its mobile broadband network amid limitations that plagued the frequency allocation in the country.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Human rights activist and lawyer for Papua, Veronica Koman, on Thursday questioned the Indonesian government's commitment to accommodate the participation of Papuan indigenous in the 'Papua Special Autonomy Bill' as she said House members plan to hold the meeting behind closed doors on Monday, May 31.

Jakarta – The Jokowi administration sets back democracy in Indonesia. Civil freedoms and the eradication of corruption are under threat.

Antara, Jakarta – The Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Thursday's meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) recommended the House to quickly pass the second changes in Bill No. 21/2021 on the special autonomy in the Papua Province.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – The chairperson of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, responded to what he believes is a baseless allegation made by the Indonesian State Intelligence (BIN) against separatist groups.

Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) suspects that there has been an endeavor to terminate a number of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees carried out by third parties.

Jakarta (Reuters) – An Indonesian court was set to deliver its verdict on Thursday (May 27) in the trial of a hardline Muslim cleric accused of breaching coronavirus curbs and inciting followers to attend mass gatherings after his return last year from self-imposed exile.

Antonio Sampaio, Dili – The Timor-Leste government may apply disciplinary action to public officials doing face-to-face work who refuse to take the vaccine, while maintaining that vaccination against covid-19 is not mandatory.

Jakarta – The government hopes the Covid-19 vaccination drive is on target, as Indonesia welcomed another batch of Sinovac's bulk vaccine earlier this week.

On Tuesday, a new shipment of 8 million Sinovac vaccine bulk landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang. The shipment marked the thirteenth phase of vaccine arrival in the country.

Konradus Epa, Jakarta – Churches in Papua have offered to mediate talks between the Indonesian government and separatist groups in a bid to ease tensions in the restive region.

Jim Elmslie and Camellia Webb-Gannon – "Destroy them first. We will discuss human rights matters later." These are the reported words of Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly to the Indonesian military (TNI), last month.

A'an Suryana, Singapore – On the surface, it looked like Indonesia got a boost in its vaccination efforts. A company-funded COVID-19 vaccination programme for employed workers and their families was rolled out last week.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Timor-Leste's government has lifted a ban that has prevented Catholics and members of other religions from going to places of worship in the capital Dili for more than two months following a spike in Covid-19 cases in early March.

Update: The father of the victim has wholeheartedly rejected the idea of his daughter marrying his rapist, instead hoping that the suspect gets the harshest punishment available.

Original story follows.

Reparations suggested by a lawyer in a high-profile rape case in Indonesia may just illustrate how some in the country still take sexual crimes lightly.

Jakarta Globe, Jakarta – Lippo Karawaci, one of Indonesia's largest property developers, has opened a mass vaccination center at Senayan Park Jakarta, or Spark, to support the self-funded vaccination campaign.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) senior investigator Novel Baswedan argued that the Commission's plan to dismiss 51 employees was not just a matter of employment issues.

Novel suspected that it was a systematic attempt to get rid of people who were serious about eradicating corruption.

Antara, Jakarta – The Covid-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito on Wednesday announced that there had been 27 deaths – initially suspected to be linked to the national vaccination program that uses Sinovac vaccines – which he said is unrelated to the Covid-19 vaccine brand.

Jakarta – Firebrand cleric Rizieq Syihab was sentenced to eight months in prison on Thursday after a Jakarta court found him guilty of violating Covid-19-related social restrictions while acquitting him of a more serious charge.

Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – Human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman has refuted accusations by State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Deputy Chief Lieutenant General Teddy Lhaksmana Widya Kusuma who said that Koman is taking advantage of the 2021 National Sports Week (PON) to create instability in Papua.

Maire Leadbeater – New Zealand is more than a bystander – our Government repeatedly endorses Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua and has defence ties with Indonesia.

Senator the Hon Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
PO Box 6100
Senate, Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

27 May 2021

Dear Foreign Minister,

Imam B, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has put five leaders heading separatist terrorist groups operating in Papua and West Papua on its most-wanted list.

The agency will track down the leaders, in accordance with Indonesia's Law No. 5/2018 on Terrorism, BNPT chief Coms.Gen.Boy Rafli Amar said here on Thursday.

Laily R, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – Indonesia's army and police personnel deployed in Papua are entrusted with enforcing the law against armed terrorist groups and safeguarding the government's development agenda in the easternmost province, a high-ranking police officer stated.

Chris Barrett, Singapore – There have been three flights from Dili to Oecusse in the past month as well as one ferry trip.

By air and sea, a judge, two sets of lawyers and a prosecutor have made their way from the East Timorese capital to the coastal enclave that borders Indonesia. They have assembled in Oecusse for a criminal trial that has divided a nation.

Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia has resumed usage of a temporarily suspended batch of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, the country's food and drug agency (Bpom) said on Thursday (May 27).

The agency suspended use of one batch of the vaccine to conduct an investigation after a young man died after being inoculated earlier this month.

Timor-Leste's Petroleum Fund (PF) is 'well capitalised' to support economic growth, although it is currently being hampered by the pandemic, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Emma Connors, Singapore – The Indonesian government is wrapping Bali in a bubble in an effort to protect the holiday mecca from rising new cases, as hotels start to advertise to international tourists ahead of a planned reopening in July.

Syaiful H, Rahmad Nasution, Jakarta – Indonesia's top security minister, Mahfud MD, highlighted the government's priority to seek peaceful solutions to the Papuan issue though will continue to crack down on armed Papuan terrorist groups that have threatened most Papuan communities.

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Lawyers for alleged victims in a sexual abuse case involving an ex-priest in Timor-Leste are to lodge an official complaint against officials at a district court where the case is being heard after the trial was postponed for a third time.

Johannes Nugroho, Surabaya, Indonesia – Indonesia's public debate over the issue of Palestinian rights was reawakened by the latest violence, which claimed at least 243 lives in Gaza and 12 in Israel before an eventual ceasefire.

Jakarta – The leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has conferred with the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (Kemenpan RB) and the State Civil Service Agency (BKN) on the fate of the 75 anti-graft agency employees who failed the pass the civics knowledge or nationalism test required for them to become state civil servants.

Erlina Fury Santika, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD claims that 92 percent of the Papuan people support the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

This was conveyed after he met with several Papuan figures following a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I on Tuesday May 25.

Yerica Lai, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has appointed Lt. Gen. Ganip Warsito, the chief of general staff of the Indonesian Military (Kasum TNI), as the successor to National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Doni Monardo, who is to retire from the position on June 1.

Rifki Nurfajri, Jakarta – Publicly listed retail group PT Hero Supermarket plans to close all of its Giant supermarket outlets by the end of July to improve its finances after the pandemic whammed Indonesia's retail industry.

Authorities have arrested two men for their alleged roles in an online prostitution ring involving over a dozen teenagers in West Jakarta.

In a raid conducted on Wednesday and Friday last week, police apprehended at least 75 people from two hotels in the area. Among them were 18 underage girls, who the pimps took in after going on dates with them.

Charles Maniani, Manokwari – Hundreds of people in Manokwari from the Papuan People's Solidarity (SRP) once again articulated their opposition to the extension of Special Autonomy in Papua and other demands on the morning of Tuesday May 25.

The arrest of an alleged breast groper in Jakarta has sparked a discussion on the trivialization of sexual harassment in Indonesia, with netizens coming forward to share stories about their horrifying trauma as victims.

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has been reported to the police for allegedly breaching COVID-19 protocols at her birthday party last week.

Indonesian police have forcefully dispersed a number of West Papuan protests around the region today.

The protestors were calling for the release of pro-independence activist Victor Yeimo who was taken into police custody over two weeks ago.

An exiled West Papuan leader has condemned Indonesian for "hypocrisy" in speaking out about Myanmar and Palestine while voting to ignore genocide and ethnic cleansing at the United Nations.

The leading English-language daily newspaper, The Jakarta Post, has also criticised Jakarta's UN vote.

James Guild – A recent article from Mongabay reports that as of 2023 Indonesia will no longer build new coal-fired power plants. The article notes, however, that Indonesia still intends to finish dozens of projects that are currently under construction, and that these will continue burning coal and emitting carbon for many years to come.

Linda Yulisman, Jakarta – At least eight family members of 47 Indonesian health workers who contracted Covid-19 after treating 14 sick Filipino ship crew members have tested positive for the coronavirus as the health authorities intensify tracing on their close contacts.