Yuli Tri Suwarni and Blontank Poer, Bandung – Around 200 hard-line clerics urged the government to include Islamic sharia law in the revised Criminal Code (KUHP) as they cut short their two-day meeting here, which was originally scheduled to have ended on Wednesday.

Indonesia is to restrict the number of countries which receive free travel visas to just 10. Thirty-eight countries, but not Singapore, will be affected by the new ruling, which is being introduced for security reasons and will take effect from December 1.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – Lack of knowledge about sex, reproductive health and illegal drugs has put Indonesian adolescents at risk, while data made available by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that 23.5 percent of the country's adolescents have no idea what HIV/AIDS is.

Jakarta – The assessment by number of groups is that the 2004 general elections represent a critical period, where it is hoped that a political transition towards democracy will occur.

Denpasar – President Megawati Soekarnoputri said Thursday that she does not want to be accused of abusing human rights in her fight against corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) at home.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – The government's lack of legitimacy and political will has allowed corruption to flourish, say activist students, the vanguard of the country's reform movement.

They also suggested that the country, which has been mired in protracted multidimensional crises, badly needs a powerful government with strong commitment to combating corruption.

Indonesian judges jailed three men for more than four years for their part in last year's Bali bomb attacks in which 202 people died.

In separate trials on the resort island, judges handed down sentences for the men accused of assisting those accused of the bombings, seen as the worst global terror acts after the September 11, 2002, attacks on the United States.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The Bandung State Administrative Court ordered on Tuesday that state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) revoke its resolution suspending its 9,643 employees since July 11 this year.

"The resolution must be revoked on the grounds that the company violated the 2003 Manpower Law," said Arpani Mansyur, who presided over the trial.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The lack of political will to combat corruption has once again positioned Indonesia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, anticorruption activists say.

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry's team tasked to ascertain whether political parties are eligible to contest next April's general election has been accused of taking bribes.

At least 34 new political parties, including 12 that have passed the ministerial team's screening process, on Wednesday reported the alleged graft to the Jakarta Police.

Robert Go, Jakarta – A fire gutted South-east Asia's largest textile bazaar on February 19, and Tempo, Indonesia's best-selling magazine, has been feeling the heat ever since.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Observers have warned the public not to be overly optimistic about the newly established Constitutional Commission, saying that the final say was still in the hands of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Defense lawyers for former Jakarta military police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo asked the ad hoc rights tribunal for the Tanjung Priok massacre to reject the prosecutors' indictment against him on Tuesday, saying it lacked legal merit.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – This week yet another glitzy road show will set out to sing the praises of yet another Indonesian bank that has clawed its way back to financial health. The People's Bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Indonesia's oldest and fourth-largest bank, is going public.

Jakarta – Standard Poor's Ratings Services Wednesday raised its long-term foreign and local currency ratings on Indonesia by one notch to reflect the country's good fiscal performance and growing stability in economic conditions.

Jakarta – The Berlin-based group Transparency International on Tuesday listed Indonesia near the bottom of its list of corrupt countries, on the same level as Kenya but ahead of Myanmar, Angola, Cameroon, Paraguay, Nigeria and Haiti.

The list rates 103 nations on a score out of a possible perfect 10, with Indonesia placing 122th place with a score of 1.9.

Nusa Dua – A number of human rights activists and members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from ASEAN member countries plan to stage a demonstration on Tuesday to protest human rights abuses by the leaders of ASEAN.

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Evi Mariani, Jakarta – As the administration continues to evict squatters from land owned by the city and private companies, political parties have begun to calculate the potential loss of voters.

Recent polls conducted by several research and survey institutes show growing public sympathy and support for retired Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a possible presidential candidate.

Officials Monday vowed to fight investor perceptions that Indonesia is a haven for corruption and terrorism as a high-level business summit got under way in Bali almost a year after deadly terror bombings on the resort island.

A. Junaidi and Indra Harsaputra, Jakarta/Surabaya – A team of 80 historians tasked with revising the national history book, are gathering new data and information on former president Soeharto's roles in a number of crucial events.

Leo Wahyudi S. – Forced evictions conducted by the city administration usually end in clashes between public order officers and the "illegal" occupants. People often end up in hospital due to their injuries; one even died in the last eviction in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

The Jakarta Post talked to some people on the use of violence by public order officers.

Tiarma Siboro and Andi Hajramurni, Surabaya/Makasar – President Megawati Soekarnoputri told the Indonesian Military (TNI) on Sunday to "build a bridge over the country's troubled water" resulting from various conflicts and competition among political interests, which have harmed the nation's integrity.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Military observers said on Friday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had made some progress in reforming in the last 5 years, but pointed out other problems that it must improve to meet the nation's expectations and uphold democracy.

Jakarta – The New Order regime [of former President Suharto] which was brought down by the wave of demands for reformasi in 1998, is returning to power though the 2004 general elections.

To celebrate its 58th anniversary, which falls on October 5, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has picked "Make the general election a success" as the commemoration's theme. The following is an excerpt of the question and answer session with TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, which was attended by The Jakarta Post's Tiarma Siboro.

The East Jakarta District Court on Monday issued an asset preservation order covering the home of Tempo magazine co-founder Goenawan Mohamad. This was followed by the issuance of a similar order against the editorial offices of the Koran Tempo daily by the South Jakarta District Court.

In Indonesia, one of the country's most respected journalists and intellectuals, Tempo-media group co-founder Gunawan Mohamad, has had his Jakarta home confiscated by the courts....Simultaneous moves to seize a key Tempo office have so far failed on grounds that the company doesn't own the building concerned.

Makassar – Tension still engulfed the newly created regency of Mamasa, some 380 kilometers from the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, on Thursday after three deaths in attacks by rival villagers.

The attacks took place on Monday and Tuesday, and involved those supporting and those opposing the division of Polewali Mamasa (Polmas) into two regencies – Polewali and Mamasa.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The planned revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP) should focus on repressive articles and outdated laws, instead of criminalizing private matters, experts said.

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – More than 1,000 people became homeless in a forced eviction on Thursday at a 15-hectare plot of land in Tanjung Duren Selatan subdistrict, West Jakarta.

Jakarta – The number of tourists visiting Indonesia fell in August, nearly a year after the Bali bomb blasts, while arrivals fell almost 20 percent in the first eight months of 2003, the statistics bureau said on Thursday.

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) received on Tuesday an anonymous package containing 11 live bullets addressed to each of its members and a letter demanding that the Commission adopt certain specifications in the tender of ballot boxes for the elections next year.

Jakarta – A majority of Indonesians, fed up with what they see as ineffective government, prefer the autocracy of former President Suharto to the democratic rule of current leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, a survey showed.

Jakarta – Indonesian lawyers have criticised plans by the Justice Ministry to criminalise sex outside of marriage and some sexual acts by minors, a report said yesterday.

The ministry is drafting an amendment to the criminal code to include acts not currently categorised as crimes but seen as immoral. These include living together and sex outside of marriage.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Another survey has found that the public are disappointed with the performance of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration, with poor law enforcement the utmost cause of discontent.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Living in sin, committing adultery and practising black magic will be punished with long jail sentences under Indonesia's draft new criminal code.

The tough provisions in the code, intended to replace much of the criminal law left by Indonesia's former Dutch colonisers, include jail terms of up to 12 years for casual sex.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The government has finally decided not to increase electricity rates for the October-December period this year, amid strong public opposition ahead of next year's general elections.

Jakarta – Moody's Investors Service, an international rating agency, has upgraded Indonesia's sovereign rating by one notch, in light of the country's stronger external financial footing and falling government debts.

Kurniawan Hari and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) have instructed legislators deliberating the water resource bill to make several revisions on some contentious articles, Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno said on Tuesday.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A rights activist and a lawyer have expressed concern over a government proposal to criminalize extramarital sex and some sexual acts by minors, saying it would infringe citizens' basic rights.

Jakarta -- It was hard to find any national flags being flown at half-mast on Tuesday, signaling that many Indonesians have forgotten about the shadowy September 30 incident.

From whatever side one looks at it, by any measure the chain of events that was set in motion by what happened around October 1, 1965, constitutes a human tragedy so huge it deserves to be remembered.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Lawyers for the 11 military personnel accused of committing gross human rights violations in the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre questioned on Monday the legality of the ongoing trials against their clients, arguing that the families of the victims and the military had reached an out-of-court settlement in the case.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Schools are the new breeding grounds for violence in Indonesia if the murders and acts of brutality at colleges and universities over the last month are anything to go by.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Casual sex, oral sex, cohabitation, homosexual sex and witchcraft will be outlawed if proposals by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to amend the Criminal Code (KUHP) are adopted.

Bambang Nurbianto and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Thousands of more families will soon be left homeless as the Jakarta Administration is set to continue its policy of evicting squatters living illegally on privately and state-owned land across the city.

Slamet Susanto & Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Yogyakarta/Jakarta – A number of people were injured during a clash between police and about 200 protesters who staged a rally against the water resources bill in Yogyakarta on Monday.

One of the protesters was admitted to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

Jakarta – A group of Indonesian Muslims, handpicked by the US Embassy here for their moderate views, told an expert panel from Washington in plain terms last week why America is unloved in the Islamic world.

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Frustrated with the protracted economic crises, stalled reforms and poor law enforcement, the general public are now more inclined to look favorably at a regime akin to the military-backed New Order, posing a threat to the consolidation of democracy in the country, according to a survey.