Guritno, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said that a civics or nationalism test (TWK) cannot be used as a pretext to sideline Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees who have different political views from the government.

Sebastian Strangio – Indonesia is bolstering its military presence in disputed Papua province, following the assassination of a senior military officer on April 26.

Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) investigator Kurnia Ramadhana says that the public's concerns about President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's policies on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are being confirmed bit by bit.

Indonesia is seeing drastic COVID-19 case surges in seven provinces – all of which are major mudik Eid exodus destinations – in the lead up to the Islamic holiday which falls on May 12-14.

New policies are now being enforced at Central Jakarta's market district of Tanah Abang, following massive crowds at the popular textile market and nearby train station over the weekend.

Several videos taken from Tanah Abang have been widely circulating, prompting netizens to blame the crowds for ignoring lessons from India's devastating second wave of the coronavirus.

Why mask up when prayer can shield you from the coronavirus? That was the reasoning behind a no-mask rule at a mosque in Bekasi, West Java before a viral incident taught its staff the importance of health precautions.

Yamin Kogoya – The Indonesian government has officially labelled the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) Free Papuan Movement and its military wing, the TPNPB (West Papua National Liberation Army) as a terrorist group.

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Despite obvious signs that a powerful cyclone was brewing, life carried on as usual in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara last month.

Aside from grounding ships and airplanes from travelling in the rough weather, hardly any preparation was made.

Following a spate of shooting incidents over the last few weeks, including one that killed the head the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Papua, Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny, the government has declared the armed rebel group in the territory a terrorist organization.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders reportedly planned to dismiss 75 employees as they did not pass the national test. One of them is senior investigator Novel Baswedan.

Novel confirmed to have heard the news of his dismissal. "Yes, I've heard the information," he said via a text message to Tempo on Monday, May 3, 2021.

Bilveer Singh – On April 25, while taking part in a military patrol in the village of Dambet in Beoga district, part of Papua's Puncak Regency in eastern Indonesia, Papuan separatists succeeded in killing Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha.

I issue this urgent warning the world: huge Indonesian military operations, some of the largest in years, are imminent in West Papua. The internet is being cut off, hundreds more troops are being deployed, and we are receiving reports that West Papuan civilians are fleeing from their villages in Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Nduga regencies.

Andita Rahma, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Police main headquarters (Mabes Polri) confirmed that it will act under the Law against Terrorism (UU Terorisme) in pursuing the armed criminal groups in Papua.

"We will surely use that specific Law as they are already categorized as terrorist groups," the Mabes Polri spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono confirmed on May 4.

Jakarta – A 10-year-old boy died after eating cyanide-laced satay which was allegedly intended for another person in a murder plot that goes horribly wrong in Yogyakarta, police said on Monday.

A woman has been arrested for allegedly lacing satay and cyanide and ordering a motorcycle taxi to deliver it to the target – an ex-boy friend, according to police.

Katharina R. Lestari, Jakarta – A senior Catholic official in Papua has called on Indonesia's military and rebel leaders to declare a ceasefire and prevent an escalation in violence and wider conflict following the government's decision to designate separatists as terrorists last week.

Stanley Widianto – Indonesia has recorded its first cases of a highly infectious COVID-19 variant first detected in India, the health minister said on Monday, as authorities implored people not to travel to their hometowns for the end of the Muslim fasting month.

Emma Connors, Singapore/Jakarta – Public health experts believe Indonesia is dangerously exposed to a steep rise in COVID-19 infections as a religious celebration looms and scams reveal weaknesses in border controls and testing regulations.

Amy Chew – Indonesian lawmakers are calling for the sister ship to KRI Nanggala 402 – which sank recently with the loss of all 53 crew – to be grounded until it is proven seaworthy.

Richard Heydarian – When India's then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was asked in the 1950s why Southeast Asian nations were designated as Category C in his country's foreign policy, he reportedly replied: "Do you gentlemen wish to become friendly with Coca-Cola governments?"

As military operations intensify in West Papua, internet services to the capital of Indonesia's Papua province have been cut.

The telecommunication company, PT Telkom Indonesia, has confirmed that internet service in Jayapura was disrupted on Friday night.

Jakarta – Indonesia has seen inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in three months in April, as demand for foods and clothes during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan picked up and drove up the commodities' prices.

Jakarta – Yogyakarta has administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to more than 55 percent of its targeted recipients, helping the province to avoid spiking fatalities in the province, according to the Yogyakarta Health Agency.

Bisnis.Com, Jakarta – The secretary of the state passenger ferry operator ASDP Indonesia Ferry, Shelvy Arifin, said passenger and vehicle mobility in this year's mudik saw a surge 12 days ahead of the Eid al-Fitr national holidays.

Budiarti Utami Putri, Jakarta – Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Benny Wenda criticized the Indonesian government's decision that labeled the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM), or the armed criminal group as called by the government, as terrorists.

Antara, Jakarta – The Papua Regional Police have mapped six armed criminal groups (KKB) that actively carried out security disturbances in the mountainous region of Papua. The groups were detected in Puncak, Intan Jaya, and Nduga Regency, said the Regional Chief Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri.

Achmad Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling in a pledge made by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in 2015 related to press freedom in Papua, which to this day has not been fulfilled.

Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) says that 90 journalists were victims of violence over the last year with most of the alleged perpetrators being police.

Meki Wetipo & Jenny Munro – I wish us Papuans to have a good home, have time with our families to go to church together on Sundays, and all of us work properly. Unlike today, we sell in the hot sun, get dust, get rain, sell at night with flashlights without electricity.

Abeth You, Jayapura – The Indonesian government's decision to categorize the West Papua National Liberation Army as a terrorist group is deemed subjective and reckless, says Papua conflict expert and leading church figure Okto Marko Pekei.

Nasrudin Yahya, Jakarta – Labour Movement with the People (Gebrak) spokesperson Nining Elitos says that protesters received threats from outside parties prior to the commemoration of May Day 2021 in Jakarta on Saturday May 1.

Antara, Jakarta – Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) President Said Iqbal echoed demands, including calls to revoke the Job Creation Law, especially regarding the manpower cluster, at a rally to commemorate Labor Day or May Day 2021.

Jakarta – The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) has spoken out in response to the Indonesian government's move to pin the terrorist label on armed groups in Papua – which officials usually refers to as armed criminal groups (KKB).

Priyo Setyawan, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of workers from the People's Alliance for Unity (Arus) held a peaceful action commemorating May Day at the zero kilometre point intersection in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Saturday May 1. The protest was filled with speeches demanding prosperity for workers and the full payment of holiday bonuses.

Neo Chai Chin and Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – He was tortured, underwent forced labour and had to eat mice, snakes, lizards and snails to survive.

Arrested for being a suspected communist sympathiser, Bedjo Untung was never charged despite being detained from 1970 to 1979, under the authoritarian regime headed by Suharto, the former general.

Dili – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has urged Indonesia's government to hold talks with the Papuan independence movement to help end a decades-long insurgency in the country's easternmost region.

Jakarta – The number of deaths from Covid-19 in India has soared following a religious celebration. Unfortunate result of populist decisions taken based on electoral interest.

Jakarta – Workers in Indonesia marked international labour day on Saturday (May 1) with significantly less attended marches due to COVID-19 restrictions but thousands still vented their anger at a new law they say harms their rights and welfare.

Makassar – Commemorating International Labour Day or May Day in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on Saturday May 1, labour and student organisations held a protest action in which they set fire to tyres and demanding the annulment of the Job Creation Law and the payment of holiday bonuses.

Rakhmat Nur Hakim, Jakarta – The government's decision not to repeal the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law is not in accordance with the spirit touted by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo when he initially responded to the polemic over the catchall or ambiguous articles in the law.

Jakarta – As many as 97 people were arrested during May Day commemorations in the vicinity of the Horse Statue and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) offices in Central Jakarta on Saturday May 1.

The figures on the arrests were obtained by summarising statements made by police up until the May Day actions ended at 5.05 pm.

Yogi Ernes, Jakarta – Police arrested scores of Papuan student at a May Day rally in Central Jakarta earlier today on the ground that they did not have a permit to demonstrate.

Farid Kusuma – Hundreds of students and workers from various different organisations in Jakarta took to the streets to commemorate International Labour Day or May Day today, Saturday May 1.

Sania Mashabi, Jakarta – Leaders of the Confederation of the All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI) and the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) met with Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko on Saturday May 1 in the framework of Labour Day 2021.

During the meeting, the KSPSI and the KSPI conveyed several concerns about workers' rights.

Muhammad Saifullah, Banda Aceh – Scores of workers held a long-march from the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to the Simpang Lima traffic circle in the Achenese provincial capital of Banda Aceh to commemorate International Labour Day which fell on Saturday May 1.

Sui Suadnyana, Denpasar – A number of companies in Bali have sacked workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers say they regret this especially since dismissal letters were not handed to them directly but sent via the post office.

Lukman Hakim, Surabaya – On Saturday May 1 hundreds of workers from the Indonesian Metal Trade Workers Federation (FSPMI) held a demonstration in front of the Negara Grahadi building on Jalan Gubernur Suryo in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya as part of activities commemorating International Labour Day.

Medan – A protest action commemorating International Labour Day or May Day in Medan, North Sumatra ended with the Medan metropolitan district police (Polrestabes) arresting 14 protesters from the People's Resistance Alliance for the Destruction of Tyranny on Saturday May 1.

Bandung – Trade unions from across West Java commemorated Labour Day or May Day 2021 by holding an action in front of the Sate building in the provincial capital of Bandung in Saturday May 1.

Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesia is eyeing to ramp up their spice exports – particularly to the European Union, or EU – with a new multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to helping farmers export high-quality and sustainable spices.

Jakarta – Food and Drug Supervisory Agency, or BPOM, has greenlighted the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm for emergency use in Indonesia, in a move that could accelerate the country's vaccination program.