Jakarta – May 1998. Students from throughout the country spilled into the hall and occupied the national parliament building. The State Palace also was not spared the invasion of large numbers of uninvited guests.

[The following is a compilation of abridged translations taken from Detik.com on the May Day rallies held in Indonesia on May 1.]

State Palace 'attacked en masse' by thousand of workers

The following statement was to be presented during action by the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) at the Hotel Shangri-La in Jakarta on March 29 to protest a meeting on the Millenium Development Goals and the newly passed Foreign Investment Law.

Rini Kustiani, Jakarta – A volunteer who has been working in Aceh since the tsunami disaster submitted a judicial review of the hate sowing articles in the Criminal Code to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday March 21.

At around 3pm today (March 4) protesters calling themselves the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI) attacked the East Java Regional Conference of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) in Batu City, East Java.

Jakarta – Around 200 residents who said they were flood victims protested at the House of Representatives (DPR) building in South Jakarta demanding that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso resign from his post.

J. Osdar – Indonesian journalists roared with laughter when they witnessed the general elections or great election in the Malaysian state of Sabah in 1985. The total number of voters was only 300,000 out of a population of 1.2 million. But more than 30 political parties had registered to contest the elections.

Yogyakarta – Scores of protesters demonstrated in front of the Agung State Place Building in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta yesterday criticising the state of the nation, particularly in relation to the foreign debt.

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is calling on the government to find the 13 missing activists who were abducted between 1996-1998 and whose fates are still unknown.

Bandar Lampung – The Bandar Lampung City Preparatory Committee for the National Liberation Party of Unity (KP-Papernas) plans to start socialising the new party this afternoon at the Lampung Cultural Gardens.

Jakarta – New political parties continue to surface. After 27 new political parties registered recently with the department of justice and human rights, there is now one more party, the National Liberation Party of Unity (PPPN or Papernas), that is ready to follow suit.

Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta – A variety of political party flags adorn the site of the fire in the Penjaringan area of North Jakarta.

Jakarta – A number of Islamic social organisations from the Islamic Community Forum (FUI) have visited the offices of the Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to ask that the government be on guard against foreign intervention that could divide the nation.

Banda Aceh – Students from the Aceh Democratic Network (Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh, JDA) opened a coordination post at the Banda Aceh City Park on Tuesday May 9 to guard the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA)

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held an action commemorating International Women’s Day on March 8 where they expressed their opposition to the Draft Anti-Pornography Bill (RUU APP).

Muchus Budi R., Jakarta – Pollycarpus, the defendant in the murder case of human rights defender Munir will soon be sentenced. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) however, is pessimistic that the courts will be able to take further action to find and try the brains behind the murder.

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – The presence of militia in Aceh post the peace negotiations in Helsinki still lays the grounds for the potential eruption of new forms of violence. It is because of this that the government is being urged to disband the militia, which still exist.

Adi Warsidi, Jakarta – As many as 116 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members being detained in Sumatra and Java have yet to be granted amnesty. This is despite the fact that on August 31 the government stated it would grant amnesty to all GAM members as part of the implementation of the peace agreement.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Support for the government on the draft agreement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is growing. The National Deliberative Council VII of the Indonesian Ulamas Council (MUI) [Ulama – Islamic religious leader] has declared it support the results of the Helsinki negotiations.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has denied that it supports the dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki.