politicalowl

Indonesia makes criticising politicians a crime  - The Straits Times Indonesians could be jailed for criticising national politicians under a new law which came into force Thursday (March 15), in what critics slammed as a major step back for the world's third-biggest democracy. The vaguely worded Bill passed the 560-member House last month but has just become official, over the objections of President Joko Widodo who refused to sign off on the controversial legislation. Joko does not have veto power over the Bill, although it can be challenged at the Constitutional Court. The so-called MD3 law opens to the door to pressing charges against anyone who "disrespects Parliament or its members" but does not set out possible minimum or maximum jail terms. From this morning's Jakarta Post: Just one day after the controversial Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law took effect, opposition from the public has grown stronger, with judicial review requests filed to the C...

Carool Kersten , King's College London After a lull of more than six years, Indonesia’s capital Jakarta was once again been hit by a deadly terror attack . This one was apparently mounted by a number of individuals believed to be connected with the so-called Islamic State (IS), in a tradition that emerged with the 2002 Bali bombings : violent attacks by terrorist cells operating in Indonesia, but claiming links with global militant Islamist organisations. The almost immediate outpouring of defiant messages and hashtags in the social media condemning this latest atrocity points at the presence of a robust counter narrative shared by the vast majority of Indonesian Muslims. They want to preserve the plurality of what is alternately referred to as Indonesia’s brand of “cultural”, “civil” or “cosmopolitan” Islam. Historically, Indonesia has been no stranger to religiously inspired political violence, but it tended to be a domestic phenomenon. In the 19th century, Islam played ...

The ending of a Jakarta conference attended by the leaders of 22 countries apparently removes the last major obstacle to the death by firing squad of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. In a front page story today The Jakarta Post  reports Indonesian Attorney General M. Prasetyo said on Wednesday that all preparations for the executions were in place. “We are prepared, so we can decide on a date any time,” he told the House of Representatives.

This morning’s  Jakarta Post  reports : Another  Post  story reports claims by an Indonesian official that Australia has sent back 15 illegal immigrants from Nepal, Iran and Bangladesh into Indonesian waters off West Java’s Sukabumi. The illegal immigrants had reached Australia’s Christmas Island and stayed there for three days, an official of the Sukabumi Immigration office, Markus Lenggo, quoted the immigrants as saying. “They said they crossed to the Australian island from the Pamengpeuk coastal village of Garut [in West Java] on March 17, but after three days they were sent back to Indonesian territory,” Markus said. The 15 illegal immigrants — six from Iran including three girls, seven from Bangladesh and two from Nepal – were found stranded on the coast of Pangumbahan in Sukabumi by the police on Sunday. They were then sent to the Sukabumi Immigration Office, which put them in its detention center, he said. Nine of them were in possession o...

This morning’s  Jakarta Post  holds out lit

If Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran finally are executed, expect Tony Abbott to be cast in the role of villain. The reaction in Indonesia to our Prime Minister’s argument in favour of having the two drug dealers spared is getting stronger. From page one of the  Jakarta Post  this morning : People in Aceh are collecting spare change for Tony Abbot following the Australian prime minister’s recent comments about a lack of Indonesian gratitude as it readies to execute two Australian drug traffickers. Organizers said that the money collected would be given to the Australian government to “repay” an estimated A$1 billion worth of aid given to Indonesia after the 2004 Aceh tsunami. Among initiators of the coin drive are the I Love Aceh community and the Association of Indonesian Muslim University Students (KAMMI), which has set up special posts for people to participate in the drive. “We are ready to collect coins to be handed over to the Australian government...

There’s no sign in this morning’s report by the  Jakarta Post  that the Indonesian president intends to change his mind on the death penalty for convicted drug criminals. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo made it clear on Friday that the postponed executions of 11 death row convicts, including two Australians, was simply the result of technical problems in the field and it had no relation at all to Australia’s pressure on Indonesia to drop the decision. “No, there were no such issues. It is within our legal sovereignty [to execute the convicts],” Jokowi said at the Bogor Palace. “I believe the delay is due to technical issues; just ask the attorney general [about the details].” The President then asked Vice President Jusuf Kalla to brief reporters about his telephone conversation with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Thursday, in which the Australian diplomat clarified the statement from Prime Minister Tony Abbott that was perceived as offensive to Indonesia. ...

Indonesia’s President-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is using an unusual method to help him select a Cabinet. He is asking people to  vote on his website  for one of three choices for each of the 34 available posts. There is also an option to write in another name. The  Jakarta Post  this morning says several names from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Cabinet, including Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Agus Martowardojo, former trade minister Gita Wirjawan and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan are on the list. The list also includes former UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic state university rector Azyumardi Azra and Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim, who are touted as potential religious affairs minister candidates, while popular economists including National Economy Council member Aviliani, Gadja...

Monday, 5th February, 2007    - Richard Farmer   The next time a boat load of Papuans arrives off the north Australian coast Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews will have a perfect answer for denying them access. He will just have to apply the definition given this week by an Indonesian official to some 2000 people who have left their homes near the Yamo river and are now facing starvation. According to Yamo district head Philipus Tabuni, as  recent revelation in the Jakarta Post  those fleeing were not classified as refugees, but only as people seeking refuge! At least there has been some change in Indonesia There might be a novel definition of refugee but the press is now more open and frank about discussing the country’s problems. The recent stories in the Jakarta Post clearly suggest that Australia has not heard the last about problems in West Papua. According to the paper, thousands of people fleeing a crackdown on Papuan separatists are now fac...