Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh administration's approval of the Qanun Hukum Acara Jinayat (criminal code procedure) bylaw authorizes sharia police in the province to detain an

Syamsul Huda M.Suhari, Gorontalo – Gorontalo Governor Rusli Habibie has issued a new policy requiring Muslim civil servants to hold mass prayers and attend Islamic religious lectures ev

Tangerang – Dozens of people claiming to be residents of Sindang Jaya district, Tangerang, have rejected the assignment of Endang Sulistyawati as district head because she is a woman.

Jakarta – As couples the world over celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday, vocal opposition to the holiday mounted in Indonesia over concerns of morality and religion, as it does every y

The head of the Indonesian Council of Ulema's (MUI) branch in Bengkulu has warned the city's mayor that his pray-for-rewards program is in danger of propagating discrimination and gende

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Imposing sharia on non-Muslims is inappropriate as Islamic law only regulates matters relevant to Islam and to do so tarnishes the image of the faith and

Hotli Simanjuntak and Ina Parlina, Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Without much fanfare, the Aceh provincial administration and legislative council have approved the Qanun Jinayat (behavior-govern

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Human rights activists criticized the Aceh Shariah police on Friday for an official suggestion that non-Muslim women should wear the hijab in the semi-auto

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Legislative Council is deliberating a special bylaw that will force non-Muslims in the province to follow sharia.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A rights group on Sunday reported a significant drop in the number of abuse-of-power cases in 2013 involving religious police officers enforcing shariah-inspi

Amnesty International has praised the Aceh parliament for passing a bylaw in December to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the abuses that took place during

Mattangkilang Tunggadewa, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan – The Balikpapan city administration has passed a decree establishing a three-hour curfew for schoolchildren between 6 p.m.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – In defiance of a ban placed on New Year's Eve festivities, thousands of residents of Banda Aceh gathered downtown to celebrate the occasion with fireworks and

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Shariah police in Aceh have confiscated thousands of fireworks, firecrackers and trumpets in the provincial capital as they enforce local ulemas' call for a b

Nurdin Hasan & SP/Muhammad Hamzah, Banda Aceh – Aceh installed on Monday a former separatist leader as the autonomous province's Wali Nanggroe – a "guardian of the state" who will o

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Muslim residents of the capital of Aceh province may have to roll back their New Year's festivities this year.

Nineteen untenured employees of Riau's Rokan Hulu district government were fired in November because they did not show up to 5 a.m.

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Scores of young people vandalized a shariah police office and injured a religious police officer in the early hours of Tuesday morning after the Islamic autho

Dessy Sagita – Rights activists are demanding the central government re-evaluate the implementation of shariah law in Aceh following a string of violations committed by the province's m

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Detectives with the Banda Aceh Police have arrested and detained the head of the province's shariah police on suspicion of embezzlement, an officer said on Fr

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A Shariah Police officer was arrested Saturday night for allegedly attempting to supply hashish to a prisoner at West Aceh's Meulaboh penitentiary while offic

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – For a start, the three Bs of Miss World – brains, beauty and behavior – have been replaced by the three Ss: sholehah (piousness), smart and stylish.

Rebecca Lake – Outraged Miss World organizers and human rights activists have condemned the Indonesian government for its lack of support for the event, saying the last-minute decision

Denpasar, Bali – Several members of the Dvipa Bali Youth Alliance staged a protest outside Bali Police Headquarters here on Monday to denounce the presence of radical organizations in t

Hundreds of Bali-bound members of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) found themselves stuck in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Saturday as female police officers – backed by nearly a

Indonesia will hold a pageant exclusively for Muslims, The Muslimah World contest, in rivalry to the Miss World beauty contest.

Jember – Hundreds of members of hard-line group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia in Jember, East Java, on Saturday continued to express their anger at the 63rd Miss World pageant, despite the fa

Bali – The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened Sunday after protests by Muslim hardliners confined the event to Indonesia's predominantly Hindu resort island of Bali.

Desy Nurhayati, Nusa Dua – Increasing protest from hard-line groups over the 2013 Miss World beauty pageant – which is slated to be held in Bali and Sentul in West Java from Sept.

Hardline Islamists in Indonesia have burnt effigies of Miss World beauty pageant organisers and branded them "infidels" during an angry protest ahead of Sunday's show.

Made Arya Kencana & Farouk Arnaz, Denpasar/Jakarta – The government is still weighing its decision on holding the Miss World Beauty Pageant amid opposition from several Islamic grou

Farouk Arnaz & Made Arya Kencana – Islamic hard-liners intensified their protests against this year's Miss World beauty pageant on Tuesday as contestants started to arrive in Bali f

Made Arya Kencana, Denpasar – Despite mounting calls by state officials and mass organizations for the upcoming Miss World beauty pageant to be canceled, Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pas

National – House of Representatives Commission X member Reni Marlinawatin said the Miss World pageant, set to take place in Bali in September, would encourage sexual harassment against

Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Bali Police, with support from the military and pecalang (Balinese traditional security guards), said it would ensure the Miss World pageant in Bali in Sep

Jakarta – Jama'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) has become the latest hard-line Islamic organization to condemn the 2013 Miss World pageant, which is to take place in Bali from Sept.

Indonesia's religious affairs minister has called for the Miss World beauty pageant to be cancelled, as opposition in the Muslim-majority country mounts the week before the contest open

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Residents of the Karang Anyar village in Langsa denied reports that a drunken mob had beaten Shariah police as they tried to disperse a live music performance

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A government human rights official has joined Islamic organizations in calling for the Miss World contest scheduled for Indonesia next month to be canceled.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – One of Indonesia's most influential Islamic groups is urging the government to cancel the Miss World pageant scheduled for next month, saying the exposure of s

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Several Shariah police officers were injured in the early hours of Monday morning after more than a hundred youths attacked them while they were trying to dis

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Shariah Police in West Aceh said on Sunday that they have arrested total of 35 food vendors in the district for selling meals during Ramadan while other peopl

Angela Dewan, Lhokseumawe – As the sun sets over Aceh province on the westernmost tip of Indonesia and the call to prayer blares from mosque speakers, five policemen leap onto the back

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to accept a draft bill proposed by the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), which calls for stricter regulation of

Jakarta – Fans of the scantily dressed Miss World contestants will be disappointed this year as the bikini category will not be included.

Banda Aceh – The government in Aceh has claimed that a social media movement aiming to discredit Shariah law in the province exists, though it has refused to provide any details on who

Jakarta – A legislator at the House of Representatives Commission XI on economy, banking and finance has urged the government to impose a higher levy on alcoholic beverages.

Islamic hardliners vowed Thursday to stop the "immoral" Miss World beauty pageant taking place in Indonesia even after organizers agreed this year's contestants would not wear bikinis.

Wasti Atmodjo – The Indonesian government has proposed the adoption of "Eastern values" during the prestigious Miss World competition scheduled to take place in Jakarta and Bali in Sept

Nurdin Hasan – A police officer was publicly caned in an Aceh district on Tuesday for violating Shariah law, making him the first law enforcer to receive such a punishment.