Darmadi Sasongko – A protest action on Thursday August 15 by the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) in the East Java city of Malang has ended in a riot with protesters and a rival group pelted each other with stones near the Rajabali intersection on Jl Kahuripan.

Roni Afriyanto, Karawang – Around 3 thousand workers demonstrated in Karawang, West Java, on August 13 against planned revisions to the Law Number 13/2003 on Labour. In addition to the protest, the workers also handed out leaflets inviting the public to reject the revision which will further oppress workers.

Adi Ahdiat, Jakarta – The Nduga Regency Humanitarian Team has again called on the government to withdraw Indonesian military (TNI) and police from Nduga regency in Papua because the military operations being conducted there are terrifying local people.

Jakarta – The United People’s Labour Movement (Gebrak) plans to hold a demonstration during the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Friday August 16.

Jakarta – The creation of NKRI bersyariah – the Unitary Islamic State of the Republic of Indonesia – one of the recommendations of the 4th Ijtimak Ulama or assembly of Islamic clerics has attracted controversy and opposition.

Fakhrizal Fakhri, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) opposes the Draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) role in Overcoming Terrorism which will soon be signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Zunita Putri, Bogor – The Ijtimak Ulama IV or the 4th Assembly of Islamic Clerics has issued a number of recommendations on the current situation in Indonesia. The assembly has also invited the Islamic community to create a Unitary Islamic State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI Bersyariah) based on Pancasila.

Haris Prabowo – A book raid by a group of people calling themselves the Indonesian Muslim Brigade (BMI) in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar has caused an uproar on social media. The group confiscated books which they claim contain “communist and leftist ideas”.

Jakarta – Nduga Regent Yairus Gwijangge has asked for help from House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo to covey to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo that he wants the immediate withdrawal of all TNI (Indonesian military) and Polri (Indonesian police) personnel that have been conducting military operations in Papua since ea

Muhammad Taufiqqurahman, Makassar – A group calling itself the Indonesian Muslim Brigade (BMI) has seized books they say smack of communism from a Gramedia bookstore in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, including books by Franz Magnis-Suseno.

M Rosseno Aji, Jakarta – The Jakarta Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) says that there has been 26 cases of alleged violence against journalists reported to police in 2019 but not one has been investigated as a crime let alone taken to trial.

Deti Mega Purnamasari, Jakarta – Democracy in Indonesia has declined for the first time since the beginning of the reformasi era – the political reform process that began in 1998. The cause of the decline in democracy is of high levels of discrimination against minorities.

Felix Nathaniel – Social media has been abuzz after the TNI’s (Indonesian military) official Twitter account carried a cartoon about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices. The following day, the police (Polri) also spoke out on the issue saying that LGBT is a disease that requires early prevention.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says that the deployment of the TNI (Indonesian military) and Polri (Indonesian police) personnel to help extinguish forest and land fires (Karhutla) fails to address the root cause of the problem.

Jakarta – The TNI’s (Indonesian military) information centre has verified that @Puspen_TNI uploaded a comic strip on its Twitter account explaining the risks of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says that 2,087 out of 4,258 hotspots recroded between January and July were located on concession land. Concession land is land for which the government has given land use rights or permits to companies or other agencies.

Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – TNI (Indonesian military) commander Air Martial Hadi Tjahjanto conveyed his hope for closer military ties with Australia at the annual 2019 Australia-Indonesia High Level Committee (Ausindo HLC) forum in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta.

Ichsan Emrald Alamsyah, Jakarta – Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Mohamad Nasir says that it is acceptable to discuss ideas such as Marxism and an Islamic caliphate on campus as long as it is limited to academic study and under the guidance of a lecturer.

Ghinan Salman, Surabaya – The Kraksaan sectoral police in Probolinggo, East Java, have reportedly returned four books with communist themes to literacy activists that are part of the Vespa Literacy community.

Bangun Santoso – The seizure of books allegedly containing communist ideas belonging to the Vespa Literacy community by the Kraksaan sectoral police and Probolinggo regency TNI (Indonesian Military) on July 27 was an abuse of power and violated the law.