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Indonesia A Indonesia consists of a necklace of some
17,000 islands, over 300 ethnic groups and some 500 different
languages. The main island is Java. The population is 85% Muslim.
Indonesia has 32 provinces.
(WSJ, 5/22/98, p.A15)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D2)(SFC,
12/8/01, p.A6)(Econ, 12/11/04, Survey p.8)
The Toadja of Sulawesi use ancestral bones for talismans.
(NH, 6/97, p.14) 2007 Jan 1, Flight
KI-574, an Indonesian passenger plane carrying 102 people,
disappeared in stormy weather off Sulawesi island. Rescue teams were
sent to search in the area where the Boeing 737-400 sent out a
distress signal. In 2008 investigators said the pilots had
accidentally disconnecting the plane's autopilot. A speed boat
capsized in poor weather off the coast of Borneo island, killing 15
people.
(AP, 1/1/07)(AP, 1/2/07)(AFP, 3/25/08)
2007 Jan 9, A landslide in a
western Indonesian village killed up to 13 people, burying several
homes and a small mosque.
(AP, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 10, A 14-year-old
Indonesian boy died from bird flu, just days after being
hospitalized. It was the first H5N1 fatality in the country in six
weeks.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan 11, Indonesian police
raided a house on Sulawesi Island where several alleged Islamic
militants were staying, sparking a fierce gun and bomb battle that
left one suspected terrorist dead.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 16, An Indonesian
passenger train jumped its tracks, sending a crowded rail car
plunging nearly 20 feet near the central Javanese town of
Purwokerto. Five people were reported killed and more than 250
injured.
(AP, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 21, A major
6.5-magnitude undersea earthquake has rocked Indonesia's northern
Sulawesi province. The earthquake left four people dead and four
injured.
(AFP, 1/21/07)(AP, 1/22/07)
2007 Jan 22, In Indonesia 16
people, including a policeman, were shot dead and others wounded in
a shootout with residents on Sulawesi, as police searched for
suspected militants in the restive town of Poso.
(AFP, 1/22/07)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.42)
2007 Feb 3, Indonesia’s
Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said Indonesia will pursue its
plans to develop nuclear power as part of efforts to find
alternative energy sources to address its growing needs. Officials
said flooding has killed at least 44 people and left more than
340,000 others homeless in Jakarta, as neck-high waters submerged
large sections of the city. The flooding in Jakarta eventually left
52 people dead.
(AP, 2/3/07)(AP, 2/6/07)(Econ, 3/17/12, p.48)
2007 Feb 6, An Indonesian ban
on sand exports went into effect. The ban was directed at Singapore,
which purchased sand to reclaim land from the sea.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.42)
2007 Feb 8, In Indonesia fresh
rains triggered more flooding, compounding the misery for hundreds
of thousands forced from their homes. Irwandi Yusuf, a former rebel
leader, was inaugurated as governor of Aceh province, cementing a
peace deal to end 29 years of fighting that killed more than 15,000
people.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 10, The death toll
from massive flooding in Indonesia rose to 80.
(AFP, 2/10/07)
2007 Feb 18, Twin landslides
hit Indonesia's Java island, killing at least 12 people after they
were buried under mounds of earth.
(AP, 2/18/07)
2007 Feb 22, A fire broke out
on an Indonesian ferry carrying 300 passengers. The number of dead,
soon climbed to 49. Scores of passengers jumped into the sea and 120
people remained missing.
(AFP, 2/23/07)(AP, 2/26/07)
2007 Feb 25, Levina 1, a
charred Indonesian ferry, sank while investigators and journalists
were on board inspecting the damage from a fire last week. At least
one cameraman drowned and three other people were missing. The death
toll from the Feb 22 fire continued to rise.
(AP, 2/25/07)
2007 Feb 26, Indonesian
engineers dropped several large concrete balls into Lusi, a volcano,
to try to stem a gushing mud eruption that has engulfed hundreds of
homes and displaced 11,000 people. Over the next few weeks,
authorities plan to drop nearly 1,500 balls, each weighing up to 88
pounds, into the crater that started spewing mud at a gas drilling
field on Java island nine months ago.
(AP, 2/26/07)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.79)
2007 Feb 28, Indonesia said it
is planning to ban local carriers from operating jetliners more than
10 years old as part of a safety campaign following a string of
crashes and accidents.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Feb, A UN report said all
lowland forests on Indonesia’s Borneo and Sumatra islands could be
lost by 2022 at current logging rates of 2.8 million hectares a
year.
(WSJ, 1/3/07, p.A5)
2007 Mar 3, In eastern
Indonesian a bomb packed with nails exploded at a port in the city
of Ambon, wounding 12 people. Landslides triggered by days of heavy
rain killed at least 40 people in eastern Indonesia, and nearly 30
more were believed to be buried under the mud.
(AP, 3/3/07)
2007 Mar 6, In western
Indonesia a 6.3 earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of
Sumatra Island, killing over 70 people and injuring hundreds.
(AP, 3/7/07)(AP, 3/10/07)
2007 Mar 7, A packed Garuda
Indonesia jetliner crash-landed and erupted in flames at Yogyakarta
airport, killing 22 people trapped inside the burning wreckage. More
than 115 others escaped through emergency exits as black smoke
billowed behind them.
(AP, 3/7/07)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.40)
2007 Mar 16, In Indonesia an
official said Bird flu has killed a 32-year-old man, taking the
death toll in the nation worst hit by the disease to 65.
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 Mar 19, In Indonesia an
official announced that bird flu has killed a 21-year-old man,
taking the death toll in the nation worst hit by the disease to 66.
In Bali the Hindu majority marked the start of the Muslim year 1386
with the new year holiday called Nyepi, a day of silence, rest and
reflection.
(AP, 3/19/07)(Econ, 3/24/07, p.49)
2007 Mar 21, In Indonesia 3
Islamic militants were found guilty of decapitating three Christian
schoolgirls in 2005 and dumping their bloodied heads in nearby
villages. They were sentenced to between 14 and 20 years.
(AP, 3/22/07)
2007 Mar 29, Indonesia reopened
its border with East Timor because the fugitive rebel who caused its
closure is no longer considered a threat.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Apr 3, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a meeting of Islamic clerics
that Muslim nations should ultimately replace coalition forces in
Iraq after a period of national reconciliation. Cliff Muntu (21), a
student at Indonesia’s Institute of Public Administration (IPDN),
died from wounds due to hazing by his seniors. This was the 35th
death in the school since 1993.
(AP,
4/3/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Muntu)(Econ, 4/21/07,
p.49)
2007 Apr 5, The editor-in-chief
of Playboy Indonesia was acquitted of charges that he violated the
Muslim nation's indecency laws by publishing pictures of scantily
clothed women.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 6, Health officials
said teenage girls in Cambodia and Indonesia have died of bird flu
as the virus continues to stalk across Asia.
(AP, 4/6/07)
2007 Apr 12, India test-fired a
new missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads with a 1,900-mile
range. Indonesia said the missile forced 2 of its jetliners off
course.
(AP, 4/12/07)(WSJ, 4/14/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 15, Blind British
aviator Miles Hilton-Barber, With the aid of co-copilot Richard
Meredith-Hardy, landed his microlight aircraft in Jakarta to
complete another leg of his London-Sydney charity flight.
(AFP, 4/15/07)
2007 Apr 20, Thousands of mine
workers in Indonesia's remote Papua province protested for a third
day as marathon talks with US firm Freeport McMoRan over pay and
benefits showed signs of progress.
(AP, 4/20/07)
2007 Apr 24, In Indonesia
Richard Ness an American director of Newmont Mining Corp., the
world's largest gold producer, was acquitted of charges the company
dumped dangerous amounts of toxic waste into a bay off Sulawesi
Island.
(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 25, In Indonesia the
MT Maulana, an oil tanker that had just unloaded its cargo, exploded
on a Sumatran river, killing four crew members.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 28, It was reported
that pro-Indonesian militias had regrouped in the mountainous center
of Aceh as the Communication Forum for Children of the Nation
(Forkab).
(Econ, 4/28/07, p.47)
2007 May 1, In Indonesia tens
of thousands of workers marked May Day by taking to the streets to
demand better wages and job security, amid a heavy police presence.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 10, The armed forces
of Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to step up cooperation to boost
security along shared borders after successful patrols in the
Malacca Strait.
(AFP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 29, In Indonesia a
teenage girl died of bird flu, taking the death toll in the nation
worst hit by the virus to 79.
(AFP, 6/1/07)
2007 May 30, Indonesian marines
shot and killed five people on Java island during a violent protest
over a plot of land allegedly owned by the force.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 Jun 8, In Indonesia Dago
Simamora (59), a junior high-school teacher in South Sumatra, was
shot dead by a killer on a motorcycle. It was later alleged that he
was killed because he was accused of trying to convert girls in his
class to Christianity. In 2009 ten members of the Palembang jihadist
group that killed him were jailed on terrorism charges. One member
said: “Dago Simamora was killed because he forbade his students to
wear headscarves at school."
(Econ, 9/12/09, SR
p.8)(http://tinyurl.com/mdzqrl)
2007 Jun 9, Indonesian police
captured Abu Dujana (37), a leader of the Southeast Asian terror
network blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings and a string of other
devastating attacks in recent years. Indonesian police also captured
Zarkasih (37), aka Mbah, the head of Southeast Asian extremist
network Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for some of the deadliest terror
attacks in the region.
(AFP, 6/13/07)(AFP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 11, Indonesia's
tropical rain forests were disappearing 30 percent faster than
previously estimated as illegal loggers raid national parks,
threatening the long-term survival of orangutans, according to a new
UN report.
(AP, 6/11/07)
2007 Jun 12, In Bali,
Indonesia, a gathering of religious leaders and victims of terrorist
attacks, sponsored by the US Libforall Foundation, denounced Iran’s
president for claiming the Holocaust was a myth.
(SFC, 6/13/07, p.A15)
2007 Jun 28, The European
Commission said all Indonesian airlines and several from Russia,
Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the EU due to
safety concerns.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jun 28, In Sudan China's
No. 1 oil company, CNPC, and Indonesia's PT Pertamina agreed to
co-develop a Sudanese offshore oil block, ignoring international
efforts to isolate Sudan over the crisis in its Darfur region.
(AP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 3, Indonesia barred
Eni Faleomavaega, the Democrat congressman for American Samoa, from
visiting Papua, but has denied the move is to cover up alleged human
rights abuses in the remote region. Faleomavaega has been a critic
of Jakarta's policies in Papua.
(Reuters, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 5, Human Rights Watch
released a report saying Indonesian security forces have killed and
beat unarmed civilians, and on two occasions raped women during
recent operations against separatists in Papua province. The 96-page
report detailed 8 alleged killings by police and military officers
in the province's central highlands since 2005 and several vicious
beatings.
(AP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 5, China's Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi visited Indonesia and said their countries
should cooperate to defend the interests of developing nations as
they work to enhance bilateral ties.
(AFP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 7, In Indonesia a
speeding bus carrying a group of junior high school students and
their teachers plunged into a 30-foot ravine on the main island of
Java, killing 14 people. Poisonous fumes from the Indonesia’s Salak
volcano killed six teenagers who were camping on the mountain.
(AP, 7/7/07)(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 9, In Indonesia
prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit against former dictator Suharto
(1921-2008), toppled in 1998, seeking $1.54 billion in damages and
funds allegedly stolen from the state during his 32 years in power.
He allegedly forced state banks and others to contribute millions to
the Supersemar Foundation, much of which was siphoned off to
companies run by members of his family and cronies.
(AP, 7/9/07)(Econ, 7/14/07, p.48)
2007 Jul 11, A passenger ship
carrying 70 people disappeared off eastern Indonesia after reporting
engine failure in stormy seas. The bodies of two children were found
drifting in nearby waters along with several survivors.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2007 Jul 23, Officials said
flash floods and landslides in central Indonesia have inundated
villages, destroyed bridges and roads, and sent thousands fleeing
their homes with over 80 people killed.
(AFP, 7/24/07)(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul 26, In Indonesia a
dozen Christian men were convicted and sentenced to up to 14 years
in jail for beating to death and beheading two Muslims to avenge the
government executions of three Christians last year.
(AP, 7/26/07)
2007 Jul, In Indonesia the
Constitutional Court again struck out clauses in the criminal code
that made it a crime to insult senior figures.
(Econ, 5/24/08, p.64)
2007 Aug 1, Denmark, France and
Indonesia offered to contribute to a joint UN-African Union mission
for Darfur, a 26,000-strong force expected to be made up mostly of
peacekeepers from Africa with backup from Asian troops. Sudan
accepted a UN resolution approving a joint African Union-UN
peacekeeping force in Darfur.
(AP, 8/1/07)(AFP, 8/1/07)
2007 Aug 3, China banned
Indonesian seafood after checks turned up dangerous contamination.
Indonesian authorities called the move an apparent reaction to an
Indonesian ban on some tainted Chinese products. The Chinese
administration said Indonesian products have been found to contain
mercury and cadmium, metals that can accumulate in water and soil
from burning garbage, mining or other industrial processes.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Aug 8, Millions of people
in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, voted for governor for the first
time, the latest in a wave of local elections hailed as key to
strengthening democracy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Researchers from
the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reported that coral
coverage in the Indo-Pacific, an area stretching from Indonesia's
Sumatra island to French Polynesia, had dropped 20 percent in the
past two decades. They said the decline was driven by climate
change, disease and coastal development.
(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 12, In Indonesia
nearly 90,000 followers of Hizbut Tahrir, a hard-line Sunni
organization with an estimated million members, packed a stadium in
Jakarta, calling for the creation of an Islamic state.
(AP, 8/12/07)
2007 Aug 12, A woman (29) in
Bali died from infection with the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
(www.news-medical.net/?id=28736)
2007 Aug 13, Armed pirates
attacked a Malaysian barge in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped 2
Indonesian crew, in the first high sea abduction in the busy
waterway in more than 2 years.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Sep 2, Dozens of Muslim
clerics issued an edict against the construction of Indonesia's
first nuclear power plant on seismically charged Java island, saying
the potential dangers far outweighed the benefits.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 6, Indonesia and
Russia signed a $1 billion defense deal that will allow Indonesia to
buy dozens of helicopters, tanks and submarines, part of visiting
Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to boost his country's
military clout in Asia.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 10, Indonesia’s
Supreme Court ordered Time magazine to pay $106 million in damages
for defaming former Indonesian dictator Suharto by alleging in a May
1999 story that his family amassed billions of dollars during his
32-year rule. Lower courts had earlier ruled in Time’s favor. Time
appealed the decision.
(AP, 9/10/07)(Econ, 5/10/08, p.70)
2007 Sep 12, A massive 8.4
earthquake struck Indonesia, killing at least 10 people, injuring
dozens and triggering a tsunami that hit one city on the island of
Sumatra.
(AP, 9/12/07)(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 13, Three powerful
earthquakes jolted Indonesia in less than 24 hours, triggering
tsunami alerts and sending panicked residents fleeing to high
ground. At least 10 people were killed in the tremors.
(Reuters, 9/13/07)
2007 Sep 14, Powerful
earthquakes struck Indonesia for a third day, terrorizing thousands
of people who slept outside in fear of tsunami and falling debris.
The death toll reached 21 and seismologists warned that the
worst may be yet to come.
(AP, 9/14/07)(Reuters, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 16, The death toll
from Indonesia's massive earthquake rose to 23 as more villagers
started returning home.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Oct 17, In Indonesia's
Papua region rival tribes armed with bows and arrows clashed close
to a US-owned gold mine, killing eight people.
(AP, 10/17/07)
2007 Oct 18, In eastern
Indonesia a crowded passenger boat capsized, killing at least 15
people, with several others possibly missing.
(AP, 10/18/07)
2007 Oct 30, An Indonesian
court dismissed a legal challenge to the death penalty brought by
lawyers for members of an Australian drugs gang on death row for
heroin smuggling.
(AFP, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct, Hardline Indonesian
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir likened tourists to "worms, snakes, maggots"
and called for signs to be placed in Muslim areas warning them to
dress modestly in a speech to an Islamic youth organization in east
Java.
(AFP, 3/23/08)
2007 Nov 3, In Indonesia
continuous tremors beneath the Mount Kelud volcano, in the heart of
densely populated Java island, became so strong that they could no
longer be read on seismological instruments, leading scientists to
evacuate their posts and warn that an eruption appeared to have
occurred. It was a false alarm but the volcano showed signs of an
imminent eruption.
(AP, 11/3/07)(AFP, 11/4/07)
2007 Nov 12, IUCN, a
Geneva-based conservation group, said the world's smallest bear
species faces extinction because of deforestation and poaching in
its Southeast Asian home. The sun bear, whose habitat stretches from
India to Indonesia, has been classified as vulnerable by the World
Conservation Union.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 16, A coroner urged
the Australian government to seek war crimes charges against former
Indonesian military officers over the 1975 killing of five
Australian newsmen during Indonesia's invasion of East Timor.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 24, In central
Indonesia a fire on a crowded passenger bus killed 12 people,
including three children.
(AP, 11/24/07)
2007 Nov 25, Two strong
earthquakes struck Indonesia’s eastern island of Sumbawa and killed
at least three people, including a child, and injured 45 others.
(AP, 11/26/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.58)
2007 Nov 26, In Indonesia the
capital of Jakarta was partially flooded, forcing thousands of
people to flee homes and cutting off a highway to the international
airport.
(AP, 11/27/07)
2007 Nov 27, The Mezzanine, a
Panamanian freighter, hit rough seas off Taiwan's north coast and 26
Indonesian sailors were feared dead.
(AFP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, Indonesia, which
is losing its forests at a faster rate than any other country,
launched a campaign to plant 79 million trees ahead of a critical
climate change conference on the resort island of Bali.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Dec 3, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, 6 Islamic militants were sentenced to up to 19 years in
prison for terrorist acts in eastern Indonesia that include
beheading three Christian schoolgirls in 2005 and shooting to death
Rev. Irianto Kongkoli in 2006.
(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Dec 3, In Bali, Indonesia,
climate experts at a massive UN conference urged quick action toward
a new international pact to stem global warming. The UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) hoped for an agreement to
mitigate climate change after the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012.
(AP, 12/3/07)(Econ, 12/1/07, p.73)
2007 Dec 6, In Indonesia
American climate negotiators refused to back down in their
opposition to mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, even as a
US Senate panel endorsed sharp reductions in pollution blamed for
global warming.
(AP, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 8, The chief US
negotiator at the climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, said the US
will come up with its own plan to cut global-warming gases by
mid-2008 and won’t commit to mandatory caps.
(SSFC, 12/9/07, p.A17)
2007 Dec 10, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said a 10-year program has begun
to save endangered orangutans from extinction by protecting tropical
jungle habitat from logging, mining and palm oil plantations. As
many as 50,000 orangutans have been lost over the past 35 years due
to shrinking habitat. As of January 2004, about 6,650 Sumatran
orangutans and 55,000 Borneo orangutans remained in the wild.
(AP, 12/10/07)
2007 Dec 12, In Indonesia new
Australian PM Kevin Rudd completed ratification of the Kyoto
Protocol as he pressed for all nations, rich and poor, to commit to
fighting global warming.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 13, Nobel laureate Al
Gore accused the United States of blocking progress at the UN
climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott
US-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on
emissions reductions.
(AP, 12/13/07)
2007 Dec 14, Indonesia, the
nation hardest hit by bird flu, announced its 93rd death due to the
H5N1 virus. In China, the military in eastern Nanjing banned the
sale of poultry this week after a father and son came down with the
disease earlier this month. Health officials confirmed the
24-year-old man died from the virus a day before his father, 52,
became sick. It was the country's 17th bird flu death. The WHO
confirmed Myanmar's first human case of bird flu and praised the
secretive country for its quick and open handling of the infection.
State media reported a girl (7) was hospitalized on Nov. 27 and
released on Dec. 12 in good condition after being treated with the
antiviral drug Tamiflu.
(AP, 12/15/07)
2007 Dec 15, In Indonesia 2
weeks of international climate talks marked by bitter disagreements
and angry accusations culminated in a last-minute US compromise and
an agreement to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by
2009.
(AP, 12/16/07)
2007 Dec 26, In western
Indonesia rescuers dug for survivors after landslides and floods
triggered by days of torrential rain killed over 87 people.
(AP, 12/26/07)(AP, 12/27/07)
2008 Jan 26, In Indonesia a
small cargo plane disappeared and apparently crashed during a short
flight over Borneo island, and all three people aboard were feared
dead.
(AP, 1/26/08)
2008 Jan 27, Indonesia, the
nation hardest hit by bird flu, recorded its 100th human death as
the virus picked up speed across Asia.
(AP, 1/28/08)
2008 Jan 27, Former Indonesian
President Suharto (b.1921) died. The US Cold War ally led one of the
20th century's most brutal dictatorships over 32 years that saw up
to a million political opponents killed.
(AP, 1/27/08)
2008 Feb 2, An Indonesian
health ministry official said floods in Jakarta have killed three
people and displaced nearly 100,000 after two days of torrential
rain.
(AP, 2/2/08)
2008 Feb 7, A new security pact
between Australia and Indonesia came into force at a ceremony in
Perth attended by the foreign ministers of the at-times testy
neighbors.
(AP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 7, Libya’s National
Oil Corp and Indonesia signed a deal for the north African state to
supply the world's most populous Muslim nation with crude oil for
the next 20 years.
(AFP, 2/7/08)
2008 Feb 9, A stampede at an
Indonesian punk rock concert left 10 people dead and dozens more
injured, most of them teenagers.
(AP, 2/10/08)
2008 Feb 15, A 3-year-old
Indonesian boy died of bird flu, the country's second death from the
illness in one day. The two cases, which were apparently unrelated,
brought Indonesia's bird flu death toll to 105.
(AP, 2/16/08)
2008 Feb 20, A powerful
earthquake struck western Indonesia, killing three people and
injuring 25 others.
(AP, 2/20/08)
2008 Feb 28, An Indonesian
court rejected a civil case against the youngest son of ex-dictator
Suharto for alleged corruption and awarded him 550,000 dollars in a
countersuit he filed.
(AP, 2/28/08)
2008 Mar 17, Indonesia and
South Africa agreed to reduce obstacles to trade and business and
jointly explore new avenues for electricity generation.
(AFP, 3/17/08)
2008 Mar 25, Officials said
Indonesia plans to restrict access to pornographic and violent sites
on the Internet after the country's parliament passed a new
information bill.
(Reuters, 3/25/08)
2008 Mar 28, Indonesian police
said they were investigating the deaths over the last 2 weeks of 21
people who drank a concoction labeled an herbal remedy.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Apr 4, Indonesia's Supreme
Court overturned the conviction of a notorious militia leader
accused in attacks that left about 1,000 people dead following East
Timor's 1999 independence vote. With Eurico Guterres' upcoming
release, all 18 suspects originally indicted will have been
acquitted or set free.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 8, Indonesian Internet
companies blocked access to YouTube and MySpace, heeding a
government order aimed at stopping people from watching an
anti-Islam film by a Dutch lawmaker.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 16, Mount Egon volcano
on Flores island in eastern Indonesia spewed ash and smoke 2 1/2
miles into the sky, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of nearby
villagers.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 20, In Indonesia
several thousand hardline Muslims protested outside the presidential
palace in Jakarta demanding that Pres. Yudhoyono ban Ahmadiyah, an
unorthodox but moderate Muslim sect founded in India in the 19th
century.
(Econ, 4/26/08, p.59)
2008 Apr 21,
In Indonesia Self-proclaimed Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders Abu
Dujana and Zarkasih, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings, were
sentenced to 15 years each at separate trials in the South Jakarta
district court.
(AFP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 22, In Indonesia
torchbearers ran laps with the Olympic flame in front of an
invitation-only crowd after officials changed the relay route from
Jakarta's streets to a sports stadium amid pressure from China to
keep away demonstrators.
(AP, 4/22/08)
2008 Apr 28, In Indonesia
hundreds of protesters in West Java province chanted "Kill, kill"
and set fire to a mosque belonging to the Muslim Ahmadiyah sect they
claim is heretical. Last week, a team of prosecutors, religious
scholars and government officials said the sect "had deviated from
Islamic principles" and recommended it be outlawed.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 May 6, Officials in
Indonesia said at least 13 illegal gold miners were killed in a
landslide in remote Papua province.
(AP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 21, In Indonesia
thousands of students took to the streets across the country to
protest the government's plan to raise fuel prices.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 22, Indonesians faced
runaway inflation and higher interest rates after the government
vowed to hike subsidized fuel prices by an average 28.7% despite
widespread protests.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 May 23, Indonesia's
government raised gasoline pump prices by nearly 30 percent because
of the surging cost of oil and gas on the global market. The move
triggered generally peaceful protests throughout the vast Indonesian
archipelago.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 May, Churchill Mining, a
London-listed firm, announced that it had found 150 million tons of
coal in Indonesian Borneo. In 2011 it raised the amount to 2.8
billion tons.
(Econ, 10/1/11, p.72)
2008 Jun 4, Indonesian police
launched a major crackdown on Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a
radical Islamist group blamed for a weekend attack on a rally for
religious tolerance, arresting 59 including the outfit's firebrand
leader.
(AP, 6/4/08)
2008 Jun 9, Indonesia issued a
quasi-ban against a minority Islamic sect in the face of violent
protests by Muslim hardliners. Liberal Indonesians accused the
government of caving in to extremists. Ahmadiyah leaders said they
did not recognize the decree and would appeal.
(AFP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 12, In Indonesia a
local health official said at least 21 toddlers have died of
malnutrition in eastern Indonesia in recent months due to a food
shortage that threatens the lives of thousands more children.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 13, The leaders of
Australia and Indonesia pledged to join forces to fight climate
change by saving forests and promoting carbon trading.
(AFP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 20, Maftuh Fauzi 27) a
student at Indonesia’s National University, died in hospital. He had
been among 100 fuel price protesters arrested May 24, but there were
conflicting reports about the cause of death.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 24, In Indonesia about
1,000 Indonesian protesters angered by a student demonstrator's
death after his arrest burned tires and hurled stones at police
guarding the Parliament. Participants in the demonstration in
Jakarta also demanded that the government revoke a 30 percent fuel
price increase imposed last month.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 26, In Indonesia a
1984 Casa-212 plane disappeared during an aerial surveillance
mission about 60 miles south of the capital, Jakarta. All 18 aboard
were killed.
(AP, 6/27/08)(AP, 6/28/08)
2008 Jul 3, In Indonesia a
police source said that a group of 10 suspected Muslim militants
detained in raids on Sumatra island by Indonesia's anti-terrorism
unit was plotting to attack Western targets. The raids followed the
capture of a suspected militant after a tip-off by authorities in
Singapore.
(Reuters, 7/3/08)
2008 Jul 8, At Developing Eight
summit of Islamic nations, meeting in Kuala Lumpur, the leaders of
Indonesia and Malaysia called for boosting world food production and
finding a permanent solution to skyrocketing oil prices, saying the
twin problems have become "grave threats" to the world economy.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 10, Indonesia executed
Ahmad Suradji (57), a man convicted of killing 42 women and girls in
a series of ritual slayings he believed would give him magical
powers.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 10, In Indonesia
Asnawi Sandri, a 38-year-old father of two, died in the hospital,
days after he came down with symptoms of bird flu. This raised the
unofficial toll in the world's hardest hit nation to 111 in three
years.
(AP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 12, In Jakarta,
Indonesia, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged cooperation on biofuels
during talks in a bid to take advantage of surging oil prices.
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 13, Algeria’s
government newspaper El Moudjhaid said a consortium of British-based
oil services company Petrofac and Indonesian engineering company
IKPT provisionally won a contract to build an LNG plant in western
Mediterranean port of Arzew.
(AP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 15, Indonesia's
president acknowledged that his country carried out gross human
rights abuses during East Timor's 1999 break for independence, but
stopped short of offering a full apology and said no one would be
prosecuted.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2008 Aug 3, In Indonesia a top
health official said a factory worker had died of bird flu west of
Jakarta, bringing the death toll in the country worst hit by the
virus to 112.
(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 7, Japan accepted over
200 Indonesian nurses into the country, an unprecedented move as
Tokyo struggles to quell a labor shortage triggered by sinking
fertility rates.
(AP, 8/7/08)
2008 Aug 16, On Indonesia's
Sumatra island at least nine people have died and dozens were
injured when a slow-moving passenger train hit a parked freight
locomotive.
(AP, 8/16/08)
2008 Sep 15, In Indonesia at
least 23 people were killed in a stampede as they crowded an alley
to receive $4.25 in cash handouts for the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
(AFP, 9/15/08)(WSJ, 9/16/08, p.A20)
2008 Sep 26, In eastern
Indonesia a packed ferry caught fire and sank between two coastal
villages in the Maluku islands, killing at least eight people.
(AP, 9/27/08)
2008 Oct 21, Indonesia's
parliament ratified the Southeast Asian charter committing ASEAN
member nations to promote democracy and human rights, clearing the
way for its formal adoption before year's end. Anti-terrorism police
seized bomb-making materials and a large cache of weapons and
ammunition during a raid on a house in Jakarta. Anti-terrorism
squads arrested five suspected Islamic radicals believed to have
been plotting to blow up Indonesia's largest fuel depot.
(AP, 10/21/08)(AP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 30, Indonesia's
parliament passed a bill banning pornography, ignoring opposition
from lawmakers and rights groups who worry it will be used to
justify attacks on artistic, religious and cultural freedom.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2008 Nov 9, Indonesia boosted
security after three Islamic militants (Imam Samudra, 38, and
brothers Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48) were executed
for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. Emotional
supporters thronged ambulances carrying their caskets through narrow
streets, some calling for revenge.
(AP, 11/9/08)
2008 Nov 12, Indonesian health
officials said test results from two laboratories in the capital
came back positive confirming that a girl (15) died of bird flu last
week.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Nov 14, In Indonesia 5
people were killed and 14 were feared dead after a landslide
triggered by heavy rain crushed scores of houses in West Java.
(AFP, 11/14/08)
2008 Nov 17, In eastern
Indonesia a 7.5 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sulawesi
killed at least 6 people, damaged hundreds of homes and briefly
triggered a region-wide tsunami warning.
(AP, 11/17/08)(SFC, 11/17/08, p.A3)(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 23, Indonesia rescued
Bank Century at a cost of 6.76 trillion rupiah ($730m). In 2010
Indonesia’s parliament ruled that the bailout was illegal and
suggested that indications of corruption be investigated.
(Econ, 3/6/10, p.55)(http://tinyurl.com/y8l28yq)
2008 Nov 24, In Indonesia
health workers and rights activists sharply criticized a plan by
lawmakers in remote Papua province, who have thrown their support
behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be
implanted with microchips, part of extreme efforts to monitor the
disease.
(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Dec 10, Indonesia launched
the Bali Democracy Forum to promote human rights and democracy. The
forum was attended by foreign ministers from around 20 countries,
with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian PM Kevin Rudd
as co-chairs.
(Econ, 2/19/11, p.43)(http://tinyurl.com/6hbsxh5)
2008 Dec 11, Indonesia and
Malaysia agreed to heighten intelligence cooperation to anticipate
rising cross-border crime due to the impact of the global economic
crisis.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 16, An Indonesian
province beleaguered by a spiraling HIV infection rate scrapped
plans to implant microchips in those with full-blown AIDS, following
strong opposition from government officials, health workers and
rights activists.
(AP, 12/16/08)
2008 In Indonesia Prabowo
Subianto (b.1951), a former son-in-law of Suharto, formed the Great
Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindara) with backing from his
billionaire brother Hashim Dojohadikusumo. Subianto had led a
special forces unit under Suharto (1995-1998) that over the years
was accused of many atrocities.
(Econ, 3/14/09,
p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabowo)
2008 Indonesia achieved rice
self-sufficiency for the first time in 24 years.
(Econ, 1/10/09, p.38)
2009 Jan 4, In eastern
Indonesia a series of powerful earthquakes toppled or badly damaged
more than 100 buildings and left one person dead and dozens injured.
(AP, 1/4/09)(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 11, In Indonesia
scores of people were feared dead after a ferry carrying more than
260 passengers and crew sank in stormy seas off Sulawesi island.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 21, Indonesia’s Health
Ministry said 2 people have died of bird flu, apparently after
contact with sick chickens, raising the country's death toll to 115.
(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 27, Indonesian police
opened fire on hundreds of people in Papua province during a protest
against alleged police violence. 4 people were injured.
(AP, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 30, Indonesia said it
will repatriate 174 "economic migrants" who fled Myanmar claiming
persecution, as new accounts emerged of their harrowing sea journey
and alleged abuse by the Thai navy. The 174 Rohingya and 19
Bangladeshis being kept at an Indonesian naval base landed in Weh
Island off northern Sumatra on January 7.
(AFP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 2, Indonesia's navy
picked up 198 starving, dehydrated boat people from Myanmar who said
they drifted for three weeks after authorities in Thailand forced
them to sea in a boat without an engine. Indonesian fishermen had
discovered the 40-foot (12-meter) boat off Aceh's coast in northern
Sumatra and towed it to shore.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 3, Indonesia’s central
bank cut its key interest rate a half point to 8.25%.
(WSJ, 2/4/09, p.A10)
2009 Feb 12, In Indonesia at
least 42 people were injured and hundreds of homes and buildings
damaged when a major earthquake struck off Sulawesi island near the
Philippines.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 19, About 12 pirates
armed with guns attacked the tug and barge in the Malacca Strait and
kidnapped two crew members as the vessel was en route to Singapore.
(AP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 21, In western
Indonesia a Sumatran tiger mauled two illegal loggers to death,
bringing to 5 the number of people killed by the critically
endangered cats in less than a month.
(AP, 2/22/09)
2009 Mar 3, An official said 4
Indonesians have died of bird flu over the last 2 months, bringing
the death toll in the country over the past several years to 119.
(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 5, Indonesia and South
Korea agreed to cooperate more closely on a range of issues
including defense, the global financial crisis and alternative
sources of energy.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 10, Two cargo ships
collided off the coast of a central Japanese island, leaving 16
South Korean and Indonesian crew members missing.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 11, Forbes magazine
released its list of 793 of the world’s richest people. Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman, a suspected drug lord and Mexico's most-wanted
fugitive, made the list of billionaires with a fortune described as
"self made." He was No. 701 on the list. The list included 5
Indonesians.
(AP, 3/11/09)(SSFC, 3/15/09, p.A4)
2009 Mar 12, The leaders of two
of Indonesia's biggest political parties signed an agreement on
shared goals amid speculation they could join forces against
President Yudhoyono.
(AFP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 14, In Indonesia
Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, the head of a state-owned pharmaceutical
company, was shot dead. On May 4 Jakarta police arrested Antasari
Azhar, chairman of Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission, as
the alleged mastermind of the drive-by murder.
(Econ, 5/9/09, p.46)
2009 Mar 23, In eastern
Indonesia 2 Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death. An
8-year-old boy was killed in 2007, the first recorded deadly attack
on a human by one of the endangered lizards in three decades.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 24, Indonesia's
controversial Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said she wants to
end vaccinating children against meningitis, mumps and some other
diseases because she fears foreign drug companies are using the
country as a testing ground.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 24, In Indonesia
rangers found the bodies of 2 rare Sumatran elephants with gunshots
to the head hours after they were used for a patrol against illegal
loggers and several hundred yards from their camp.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Mar 27, In Indonesia
torrential rain caused a dam to burst outside Jakarta, sending a
wall of muddy water crashing into a densely packed neighborhood and
killing at least 96 people with some 130 still missing. The earthen
dam, built in 1933 when Indonesia was still under Dutch rule,
surrounded a man-made lake in Cirendeu on the southwestern edge of
Jakarta.
(AP, 3/27/09)(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Apr 6, An Indonesian
military plane carrying 24 people crashed into an airport hangar
during heavy rains and burst into flames, killing everyone on board.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 9, Indonesians flooded
polling stations across the sprawling island nation, capping a
decade of democracy in a parliamentary election that boosted the
reform-minded president's chances of re-election. Pres. Yudhoyono’s
party won 20.8% of the popular vote. Nine parties appeared to have
passed the 2.5% threshold to win seats in the 560-member parliament.
(AP, 4/9/09)(SFC, 4/10/09, p.A2)(Econ, 4/18/09,
p.44)(AP, 5/10/09)
2009 Apr 16, Indonesia's top
court cleared Time Magazine of charges it had defamed former
dictator Suharto in a cover story that alleged his family amassed
billions of dollars during his decades-long rule.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 16, Five people were
killed and dozens wounded when a blast tore apart a boat carrying
more than 40 Afghan refugees off Australia's northwest coast. The
Australian Broadcasting Corporation later said it was told the
refugees had doused the boat in petrol to try to force the navy to
land them in Australia and not turn them back to Indonesia, but that
the blast was an accident. On Oct 28 two Indonesian fishermen were
jailed for five years for smuggling the boat full of Afghan
refugees.
(AFP, 4/20/09)(AFP, 10/28/09)
2009 Apr 19, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prize was awarded to 7 activists from 6 nations.
Rizwana Hasan (40) of Bangladesh was awarded for exposing
environmental damage and exploitative practices used in the
country’s ship dismantling industry; Marc Ona Essangui (45) of
Gabon, the founder of Brainforest, was awarded for exposing secret
agreements for a Chinese mine project that threatened Gabon’s rain
forests; Yuyun Ismawati of Indonesia was awarded for designing
environmentally safe waste management systems for poor Indonesia n
communities; Olga Speranskaya (46) of Eco-Accord in Russia was
awarded for her efforts to control and store chemicals in Russia and
former Soviet republics; Wanze Eduards (52) and Hugo Jabini (44) of
Suriname, leaders of the maroon community, were awarded for their
efforts that led to a landmark ruling ending tribal exploitation by
the government. Maria Gunnoe (40) of West Virginia was awarded for
her fight against the practice of removing of the tops of mountains
and filing valleys below with tailings.
(SSFC, 4/19/09, p.A18)
2009 Apr 28, An Indonesian
court sentenced a Singaporean man to 18 years in prison on terrorism
charges. Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin (36), who claimed to have met
Osama bin Laden on many occasions, was convicted of plotting to kill
a teacher and planning a deadly attack on a bar frequented by
Western tourists.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 May 1, Indonesia's top
graft-buster, Antasari Azhar (56), was named a suspect and a
mastermind in a murder case, dealing a blow to the agency that's
played a key part in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's fight
against corruption. He was one of several suspects in the March 14
murder of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, a businessman who, according to local
media reports, had been a witness in a corruption case investigated
by the agency.
(Reuters, 5/1/09)
2009 May 4, Indonesia's top
graft-buster, Antasari Azhar (56), was arrested as a suspect and a
mastermind in the March 14 murder of businessman Nasrudin
Zulkarnaen.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 7, In northwestern
Indonesia 2 rare Sumatran elephants, believed to have been poisoned
with cyanide-laced pineapples, were found dead with their tusks
removed. Just 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to still be
living in their natural surroundings.
(AP, 5/8/09)
2009 May 15, In Indonesia 6
Asia-Pacific countries, meeting at the World Oceans Conference,
agreed on a management plan to protect one of the world's largest
networks of coral reefs, promising to reduce pollution, eliminate
overfishing and improve the livelihoods of impoverished coastal
communities. The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries
and Food Security covered an area defined as the Coral Triangle,
which spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea,
the Solomon Islands and East Timor.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 19, Environmental
groups in Indonesia said Singapore-based Asia Pulp &
Paper, one of the world's largest paper companies, plans to
clear a large swath of unprotected forest in Indonesia being used as
a sanctuary for critically endangered orangutans.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 20, An Indonesian
C-130 Hercules military transport plane, carrying troops and their
families, crashed into a row of houses in East Java and burst into
flames, killing 99 people.
(AP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 28, A ship packed with
Afghan migrants sank off Indonesia's western coast, killing at least
9 people and leaving 11 others missing.
(AP, 5/28/09)(AP, 5/29/09)
2009 May 29, Indonesian
government marine geologist Yusuf Surachman said that a massive
underwater mountain discovered off the island of Sumatra could be a
volcano with potentially catastrophic power. It was discovered
earlier this month about 330 kilometers (205 miles) west of Bengkulu
city during research to map the seabed's seismic faultlines.
(AFP, 5/30/09)
2009 Jun 7, In Indonesia 19
leading agricultural exporting nations, including Australia, Brazil
and South Africa, kicked off talks in Bali aimed at pushing forward
troubled world trade negotiations. The Cairns Group of nations
accounted for more than 25% of the world's agricultural exports was
also expected to take aim at US and European dairy export subsidies.
(Reuters, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 12, In Indonesia a
male Sumatran elephant was found dead in a pulp plantation in Riau
province, Sumatra with its tusks removed. Six other endangered
Sumatran elephants had been killed in Riau in the last two months
and two were found with missing tusks.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 16, In Indonesia 16
miners were rescued after a massive explosion of methane gas
collapsed a coal mine owned by local residents in West Sumatra
province. 5 of the rescued miners died in hospital and the death
toll rose to 31 the next day after rescuers unearthed more bodies.
One more miner was believed to be buried.
(AFP, 6/16/09)(AP, 6/17/09)
2009 Jun 30, Indonesia
committed to the conservation of its dwindling tropical forests in a
multimillion dollar debt-swap deal signed with the American
government. Jakarta's payments to Washington will be reduced by $30
million over the next eight years under the US Tropical Forest
Conservation Act.
(AP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jul 8, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a second term. Exit polls
gave him a massive lead in only the second presidential vote since
the fall of Suharto. Yudhoyono won 61% of the vote. Jusuf Kalla, his
former vice-president, won 12%. Megawati Sukarnoputri won 27%.
(AP, 7/8/09)(Econ, 9/12/09, SR p.4)
2009 Jul 12, In Indonesia
gunmen killed a security guard working for US mining conglomerate
Freeport, then ambushed police responding to the attack blamed on
separatist rebels in one of Indonesia's most underdeveloped and
remote regions.
(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Jul 13, In Indonesia a
policeman's body was found at the bottom of a ravine near the
Indonesian operations of US mining conglomerate Freeport, raising
the death toll from a series of weekend ambushes in restive Papua
province to three.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 17, In Indonesia
suicide attacks at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in
Jakarta killed 9 people including 2 suspected suicide bombers and
wounded 53. Suspicion quickly fell on Jemaah Islamiyah and
anti-terror desk chief, Ansyaad Mbai, said evidence pointed to
Malaysian-born extremist Noordin Mohammed Top. In 2010 the South
Jakarta District Court found Amid Abdillah guilty of violating the
Anti-Terror Law by helping a splinter of the Southeast Asian terror
network Jemaah Islamiyah plan the suicide bombings. The same court
has earlier sentenced Saefudin Zuhri, an in-law of Top, and Aris
Susanto to eight years in prison for assisting and harboring Top and
two other suspects.
(AP, 7/17/09)(AFP, 7/18/09)(AP, 7/21/09)(AP,
8/7/09)(AP, 6/14/10)
2009 Aug 2, In eastern
Indonesia a plane carrying 16 people disappeared over a jungle-clad
and mountainous region of Papua. All aboard were killed.
(AP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 3, A seven-minute
video, apparently made by the Korps Brigade Mobil, or Brimob, the
paramilitary police, shows prisoner Yawen Wayeni lying in a jungle
clearing in eastern Indonesia moments after troops allegedly sliced
open his abdomen with a bayonet. Police said Wayeni, captured for
allegedly vandalizing several of their buildings and vehicles, was
shot in the thigh and stomach while resisting arrest and that he
died on the way to the hospital. The video was made public in the
Internet in 2010.
(AP,
8/4/10)(http://hub.witness.org/en/upload/killing-yawan-wayeni)
2009 Aug 7, Indonesia's
anti-terrorism unit engaged in a shootout in Central Java during a
raid targeting suspected militants behind deadly bomb attacks in
Jakarta last month.
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 8, Indonesian police
reportedly killed Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed
Southeast Asian commander of al-Qaida, in a 16-hour siege of a
village hide-out in Central Java. Authorities said they could not
confirm that a recovered body was that of the militant leader
without DNA tests. DNA tests failed to confirm Top’s death. Police
raided a house on the outskirts of Jakarta where they killed two
suspected militants and seized bombs and a car rigged to carry them.
The house was just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the president's
residence.
(AP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/9/09)(AP, 8/12/09)
2009 Aug 11, In Indonesia
UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao cited a new report saying more
than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by
their partners and 50 million more are at risk of infection. Rao
spoke on the sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS
in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the
Indonesian resort island of Bali.
(AFP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 18, In Indonesia a
dump truck, packed with more than 60 plantation workers and their
families, overturned and killing at least 25 with dozens injured. At
least three children were among the dead near Sampit town in Central
Kalimantan.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Aug 22, In Indonesia a
group of thieves killed an endangered Sumatran tiger in a zoo in
Jambi province on Sumatra island and stole most of its body. Police
suspected the theft was motivated by the animal's valuable fur and
bones. The number of Sumatran tigers has dwindled to about 250 from
about 1,000 in the 1970s, according to the Washington DC-based World
Wildlife Fund.
(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 26, A small Indonesian
ferry sank off the resort island of Bali, killing nine people while
three others are still missing.
(Reuters, 8/26/09)
2009 Aug 28, In Indonesia the
overcrowded ferry Sari Mulia capsized in the Negara River in the
South Kalimantan province, leaving at least 19 people dead and 15
others missing.
(AP, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Sep 2, A powerful 7.0
earthquake rattled southern Indonesia, killing at least 64 people
crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands
fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day. More than
10,000 buildings were severely damaged.
(AP, 9/2/09)(AP, 9/4/09)
2009 Sep 7, A small Indonesian
military plane crashed on Borneo with nine passengers and crew
aboard, killing four.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 9, Australia announced
that it has launched a war crimes investigation into the 1975
killing of five Australian-based journalists during an attack by
Indonesian forces in East Timor.
(AP, 9/9/09)
2009 Sep 14, In Indonesia
expanded Islamic law was passed by the regional parliament in Aceh
province. One key article regarding adultery threatened 100 cane
lashes for the unmarried and stoning to death for those who are
married.
(AP, 9/14/09)
2009 Sep 17, Armed Indonesian
police stormed an Islamic militant hideout in a raid that killed
fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top (41) and 3 other
militants in central Java. Putri Munawaroh (21) was wounded and
arrested after police raided her house, sparking the gunbattle. In
2010 she was sentenced to 3 years in prison for harboring
terrorists.
(AFP, 9/17/09)(AP, 7/29/10)
2009 Sep 19, In Indonesia a
strong earthquake shook the popular resort island of Bali, injuring
at least seven people and sending panicked tourists and residents
fleeing out of homes and hotels.
(AP, 9/19/09)
2009 Sep 21, In Indonesia Akbar
Risuddin came into the world at a national record 19.2 pounds (8.7
kilograms). He was born to a diabetic mother in a 40-minute cesarean
delivery that was complicated because of his unusual weight and
size. Guinness World Records cites the heaviest baby as being born
in the US in 1879, weighing 23.75 pounds (10.4 kilograms). However,
it died 11 hours after birth. The book also cites 22.5-pound
(10.2-kilogram) babies born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in
1982.
(AP, 9/25/09)
2009 Sep 30, A 7.6 underwater
earthquake rocked western Indonesia, briefly triggering a tsunami
alert for countries along the Indian Ocean and sending panicked
residents out of their houses. The quake toppled buildings, cut
power and triggered a landslide on Sumatra island. The UN
later said 1,100 had been killed in and around Padang, a port city
of 900,000 that sits atop one of the world's most active seismic
fault lines along the Pacific "Ring of Fire." At least three
villages were obliterated by earthquake-triggered landslides that
buried as many as 644 people including a wedding party under
mountains of mud and debris.
(AFP, 9/30/09)(AP, 10/2/09)(Reuters, 10/2/09)(AP,
10/3/09)
2009 Sep, Indonesia’s
Parliament, regarded as the most corrupt of Indonesia’s
institutions, passed a law weakening its Corruption Eradication
Commission (KPK).
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.44)
2009 Oct 1, In Indonesia rescue
workers used excavators to pull out victims from the heavy rubble of
buildings felled by the previous day’s 7.6 earthquake. The death
toll was expected to rise. The region was jolted by another powerful
earthquake, causing damage but no reported fatalities.
(AP, 10/1/09)(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 2, A boat carrying
about 100 asylum seekers left an Indonesian port bound for Australia
but never arrived. The information was made public in May, 2010, by
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service chief executive
Michael Carmody during a routine Senate inquiry into government
operations.
(AP, 5/25/10)
2009 Oct 8, In Indonesia
controversial tycoon Aburizal Bakrie was elected to lead the Golkar
party after the Suharto-era ruling party suffered its biggest
electoral defeat.
(AFP, 10/8/09)
2009 Oct 9, Indonesian police
raided a house near the capital, shooting dead suspected
al-Qaida-linked militants Syaiffudin Djaelani and his brother,
Mohamad Syahrir, wanted in the suicide bombings of luxury hotels in
Jakarta. Djaelani was believed to have recruited two young bombers
for the July 17 strikes on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.
(AP, 10/9/09)(Reuters, 10/12/09)
2009 Oct 21, Indonesia’s
customs chief said a group of 10 alleged Iranian drug smugglers,
including eight veiled women, were caught with $12.5 million worth
of methamphetamines at the main airport. The group had arrived on
flights from Malaysia, Syria and Qatar on Oct 19-20.
(AP, 10/21/09)
2009 Oct 30, Indonesian
officials and fishermen said thousands of dead fish and clumps of
oil have been found drifting near the coastline more than two months
after an Australian underwater well began leaking in the Timor Sea
on Aug 21.
(AP, 10/30/09)
2009 Nov 9, In central
Indonesia 6.7 undersea earthquake killed one person, injured dozens
and damaged hundreds of houses on remote Sumbawa Island. Local
officials said torrential rains have triggered a series of
landslides on Sulawesi island, killing at least 14 residents and
burying many more.
(AP, 11/9/09)
2009 Nov 21, Indonesian
authorities picked up Abdul Basir Latip, a co-founder of the Al
Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremist group, at Jakarta airport for
using a false passport.
(AFP, 12/16/09)
2009 Nov 22, Nearly 250 people
were pulled from the sea after the Dumai Express went down in heavy
rain and huge swells off Karimun island in the north of the
Indonesian archipelago. At least 29 people were killed and 20 were
missing.
(AFP, 11/22/09)(AP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 26, In Indonesia
police broke up a protest by the environmental group Greenpeace
against deforestation on the island of Sumatra, arresting 12 foreign
and six Indonesian demonstrators.
(AP, 11/26/09)
2009 Dec 1, Indonesia banned
the film “Balibo," an Australian-made film on the alleged murder of
six Australian-based journalists by Indonesian troops during the
1975 invasion of East Timor.
(AFP, 12/2/09)
2009 Dec 5, In Indonesia an
ecumenical group launched more than 10,000 twinkling paper lanterns
into the night sky above Carnaval Beach in Jakarta, setting a world
record. Freedom Faithnet Global said it organized the lantern
release as a symbol of hope and prayer as part of annual
celebrations. This year's celebrations have an environmental focus.
(AP, 12/7/09)
2009 Dec 15, Australian
scientists reported the discovery of an octopus in Indonesia that
collects coconut shells for shelter, unusually sophisticated
behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool
use in an invertebrate animal.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 16, Indonesian police
killed Kelly Kwalik (60), one of the most active Papuan rebel
commanders, sparking angry protests in a region scarred by unrest
and rights abuses. Police said they shot Kwalik after he threatened
to open fire on them during a raid on a house in Timika. Kwalik
commanded the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in southern Mimika district.
(AFP, 12/16/09)
2009 Dec 19, Hundreds of
supporters of a slain Papuan rebel leader Kelly Kwalik pelted
Indonesian police with stones as tensions flared ahead of the
commander's funeral.
(AFP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 30, Former Indonesian
President Abdurrahman Wahid (69) died. He briefly ruled during the
nation's first tumultuous years of democracy (1999-2001) and sought
peace in far-flung secessionist provinces.
(AP, 12/30/09)
2009 Dec, In Indonesia the
attorney-general’s office banned 5 books, which it considered a
threat to national security.
(Econ, 1/23/10, p.43)
2009 Andrew Beatty,
anthropologist, authored “A Shadow Falls: In the Heart of Java," a
look at the cultural conflict between Javanism, a pre-Islamic
mystical tradition, and orthodox Islam.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.87)
2009 Marcus Mietzner authored
Military Politics, Islam and the State of Indonesia: From Turbulent
Transition to Democratic Consolidation."
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.37)
2009 Indonesia joined the G20
club of major economies.
(Econ, 2/19/11, p.43)
2009 Indonesia’s population at
this time numbered about 240 million people.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.18)
2009 Australia’s Defence
Signals Directorate (DSD), an intelligence agency, tried to tap the
phones of Indonesia’s Pres. Susilo Bambang, as well as his wife and
several of his innermost circle. This only became public in 2013.
(Econ, 11/23/13, p.43)
2009 The world Muslim
population was estimated at 1.57 billion, or about 23% of the global
population of 6.8 billion, including 203 million in Indonesia, 174
million in Pakistan and 160 million in India.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.62)
2010 Jan 12, The Indonesian
government, which has promised to stamp out corruption, was
embarrassed by revelations that rich and powerful prisoners are
living in luxury behind bars.
(AFP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 13, In Indonesia
hundreds people pelted each other with stones outside parliament as
lawmakers grilled Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati over a
controversial bank bailout. Some 400 anti-graft protesters from
rival groups set upon each other in the latest sign of mounting
anger over pervasive corruption.
(AFP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 22, In Indonesia
incessant rain caused floods in two remote villages in eastern
Indonesia leaving eight people dead and 13 others missing.
(AP, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan 24, In Indonesia
gunmen attacked a convoy near the world's largest gold mine in
Papua, wounding at least seven people including a foreigner.
(AP, 1/24/10)
2010 Jan 27, In Indonesia Eko
Budi Wardoyo (32), a suspected Islamist militant, was arrested in
East Java province. He was allegedly involved in the 2005 bombing of
a market that killed 22 people and the murder of a Christian priest
in 2004.
(AP, 1/29/10)
2010 Jan 27, It was reported
that Italian fashion house Armani has stopped selling online a
T-shirt bearing a logo similar to Indonesia's national symbol,
Garuda Pancasila, after some bloggers protested and other people
called for the label to be sued.
(Reuters, 1/27/10)
2010 Feb 1, Thailand and the
United States began their annual Cobra Gold military exercise, now
in its 29th year, with South Korea taking part for the first time.
Singapore, Japan and Indonesia will also participate in the
three-week training exercise, describes as the largest of its type
in the world.
(AP, 2/1/10)
2010 Feb 9, Indonesian police
said 8 people have died after drinking liquor laced with methanol on
the country's main island of Java. The victims had bought the drink
from the same stall on Feb 5.
(AP, 2/9/10)
2010 Feb 11, Indonesia's former
anti-graft chief, Antasari Azhar (56), was convicted of plotting the
murder of a businessman and sentenced to 18 years in prison, in a
case that has undermined the country's fight against corruption.
(AP, 2/11/10)
2010 Feb 13, In Indonesia
contestants took part in the Social Cultural Transvestite Queen
beauty pageant in Banda Aceh, Aceh province. The transvestite beauty
pageant was held for the first time in the country's only province
that officially adopted Islamic sharia law.
(AP, 2/14/10)
2010 Feb 22, In Indonesia a
villager was killed in crossfire and three suspected militants were
arrested when police raided a possible paramilitary training ground
for the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah in Aceh
province.
(AP, 2/23/10)
2010 Feb 23, In Indonesia a
rain-triggered landslide at a tea plantation on the main island of
Java buried scores of workers. At least 46 people were killed or
missing.
(AP, 2/23/10)(AP, 2/24/10)
2010 Mar 6, In Indonesia a
group calling itself "al-Qaida in Aceh" claimed to be the target of
a police crackdown. Police have arrested 16 suspected militants in a
series of raids in the deeply conservative province of Aceh since
Feb 22.
(AP, 3/6/10)
2010 Mar 9, Indonesia’s
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono flew into Canberra with PM Kevin
Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce waiting on the red carpet.
He was soon appointed an honorary companion of the Order of
Australia for his work after the 2002 Bali bombing. Yudhoyono will
become the first Indonesian leader to address a joint sitting of
Australia's parliament on March 10.
(AFP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 9, In Indonesia 3
terror suspects were killed during raids near Jakarta. One of the
dead included Dulmatin, one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali
bombings. Police soon confirmed his identity. An additional terror
suspect was arrested in Jakarta earlier in the day, bringing to 24
the number of suspects taken into custody on Java and Aceh since
Feb. 22 in a police crackdown on a suspected Jemaah Islamiyah cell.
(AP, 3/9/10)(AFP, 3/10/10)
2010 Mar 12, Indonesian police
killed two suspected Islamist militants in a firefight in remote
Aceh province during the latest in a series of raids made since an
extremist training camp was discovered there last month. Eight other
suspects were arrested.
(AP, 3/12/10)
2010 Mar 21, In Indonesia a
rare Sumatran tiger dragged a man, identified as Darmilus (26), from
a hut in Seponjen village near the protected Berbak National Park,
and broke his neck as friends tried to rescue the victim.
(AP, 3/22/10)
2010 Mar 24, Indonesian police
ordered the cancellation of a conference of Asian gay activists,
saying it could prompt violent protests by conservative Muslim
groups.
(AP, 3/24/10)
2010 Apr 7, In Indonesia a
magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Indonesia's northwest island of
Sumatra, triggering a small tsunami, snapping power lines and
sending panicked residents rushing for higher ground.
(AP, 4/7/10)
2010 Apr 11, In Indonesia
police arrested 6 terror suspects including Abu Musa (35), a suspect
in the 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, and Yusuf
Arifin (25), who is said to have received militant training in the
southern Philippines. The other four were wanted in connection with
a failed plot to assassinate Indonesia's president last year.
(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 12, Indonesian police
raided a home used by suspected terrorists in the far western
province of Aceh, fatally shooting Enal Tao (38), allegedly involved
in the beheadings of 3 Christian girls. Two other suspects were
arrested at the house in Cot Irie village on the outskirts of Banda
Aceh.
(AP, 4/12/10)
2010 Apr 14, In Indonesia
protesters wielding machetes, sticks and petrol bombs clashed with
riot police near the main seaport of Tanjung Priok in northern
Jakarta in a series of running battles over a Muslim cleric's tomb,
wounding 90 people. The bloody clashes left three dead and 156
wounded.
(AP, 4/14/10)(AP, 4/15/10)
2010 Apr 19, Indonesia’s
Constitutional Court ruled 8-1 that a 45-year-old law banning
religious blasphemy was constitutional. The law limited officially
recognized religions to six: Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism,
Hinduism, Islam and Protestantism. Up to 5 years in prison could be
imposed for anyone found guilty of heresy.
(SFC, 4/20/10, p.A2)
2010 May 9, In Indonesia an
earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4 rattled the North
Sumatra province, prompting a brief local tsunami watch, knocking
out power and damaging some homes.
(AP, 5/9/10)
2010 May 11, Indonesia's former
chief detective, Gen. Susno Duadji, who has recently exposed
corruption among government and police officials, was arrested on
allegations that he accepted a bribe in 2008.
(AP, 5/11/10)
2010 May 12, In Indonesia 5
suspected terrorists were killed in two raids, the latest in a
series of anti-terror operations nationwide. 3 were killed in
Cawang, East Jakarta, and 2 others in the West Java city of
Cikampek. One of the suspects killed in the second raid was Saptono,
who was involved in a suicide car bomb attack which killed 10 people
outside the Australian embassy in 2004. Two days of raids around
Java also detained 20 people.
(AFP, 5/12/10)(Econ, 5/22/10, p.45)
2010 May 14, An Indonesian
official said police have foiled a plot to assassinate the president
and other top officials, massacre foreigners in Mumbai-style
terrorist attacks and declare an Islamic state.
(AP, 5/14/10)
2010 May 27, In Indonesia
authorities in a devoutly Islamic district of Aceh province have
distributed 20,000 long skirts and prohibited shops from selling
tight dresses as a regulation banning Muslim women from wearing
revealing clothing took effect.
(AP, 5/27/10)
2010 May 28, Indonesia said it
will impose a 2-year moratorium on large-scale clearance of
rainforests, effective as off January 2011, in return for $1 billion
grant from Norway to fund projects as part of the REDD plan (Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
(http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0527-hance_moratorium.html)(Econ,
10/30/10, p.44)
2010 May 31, Indonesia's
failure to ban tobacco advertising or enforce laws against smoking
in bars and restaurants came under heavy fire as the UN marked world
anti-tobacco day.
(AP, 5/31/10)
2010 Jun 6, In western
Indonesia 10 children died when a suspension bridge collapsed.
Rescuers were searching for three others still missing.
(AP, 6/7/10)
2010 Jun 16, Indonesia was hit
by a series of powerful earthquakes. At least 17 people were killed
and more than 4,600 others left homeless.
(AP, 6/16/10)(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 21, In Indonesia the
discovery of three dead Javan rhinos has intensified efforts to save
one of the world's most endangered mammals from extinction, with an
electric fence being built around a new sanctuary and breeding
ground.
(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jun 23, In Indonesia an
elite anti-terrorism squad arrested Abdullah Sunata, the country’s
most-wanted man, and two other suspects after raiding their hide-out
on the country's main island of Java. At least one person was killed
and several weapons seized, including a bomb in a backpack.
(AP, 6/23/10)
2010 Jun 25, In Indonesia 10
people were killed in a fire that ripped through the packed Redboxx
Café nightclub in Surabaya in the early hours, including a mother
and the baby she apparently gave birth to during the tragedy.
(AP, 6/25/10)
2010 Jun 29, An Indonesian
court sentenced 8 Iranians to life in prison for smuggling hundreds
of methamphetamine tablets in their stomachs into the resort island
of Bali. The Jakarta Post newspaper, quoting police, said Iranian
drugs syndicates have become the main suppliers of heroin and
crystal methamphetamine to Indonesia, replacing West African
countries.
(AFP, 6/29/10)
2010 Jun, Indonesia’s Tempo
news magazine ran a cover story revealing that over a dozen senior
police officials had suspicious bank accounts, some of which held
millions of dollars. A week later an anti-corruption activist, who
helped expose the accounts, was brutally beaten by unknown men.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.56)
2010 Jul 2, Jakarta's annual
month-long flora and fauna expo opened. It included sales of the
world's most threatened ploughshare tortoise and the critically
endangered radiated tortoises, both from Madagascar. While the
government has passed legislation banning such illegal trade,
dealers continue to blatantly sell endangered species without fear
of arrest or prosecution.
(AP, 7/3o/10)
2010 Jul 22, The US said it was
dropping a ban on ties with Indonesia's special forces, imposed over
human rights abuses in the 1990s, a move that may eventually allow
combat training of the once-notorious unit.
(Reuters, 7/22/10)
2010 Aug 4, In Indonesia the
Trisal Pratama sank shortly after a collision with another cargo
vessel near Selayar island off South Sumatra province. Rescuers
saved 11 people, including a 1-year-old girl, but searched the next
day for nine others still missing.
(AP, 8/5/10)
2010 Aug 6, In Indonesia the
Mount Karangetang volcano erupted, sending lava and a searing gas
cloud tumbling down its slopes. At least four family members were
swept away and feared dead.
(AP, 8/6/10)
2010 Aug 9, Indonesian police
arrested top radical Islamist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir. He was
accused of funding and training extremists who were planning a wave
of attacks in Jakarta.
(AFP, 8/10/10)
2010 Aug 9, In Indonesia the
Hastina III sunk off East Nusatenggara province after a large wave
slammed into the wooden ship, sending panicked passengers running to
one side. It capsized between Adonara and Lembata islands. 10 people
were killed with one missing.
(AP, 8/9/10)
2010 Aug 10, Indonesia and the
US launched a biodiversity research centre on the holiday island of
Bali to further studies of the archipelago's rich and diverse
species.
(AFP, 8/10/10)
2010 Aug 11, Indonesia's
best-known radical cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, was charged with
helping plan terrorist attacks in the world's most populous Muslim
nation, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of death.
(AP, 8/11/10)
2010 Aug 29, In Indonesia the
Sinabung volcano on the island of Sumatra erupted for the first time
in 400 years, spewing a vast cloud of smoke and ash into the air and
sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes.
(AFP, 8/29/10)
2010 Aug 31, Indonesian police
killed five villagers as dozens of people ransacked a station in
central Buol district to protest a person's death in custody. The
protest followed a motorist's death in police custody on Aug 30. It
was unclear why he was detained, but the protesters suspected he was
tortured by police.
(AP, 9/1/10)
2010 Sep 2, An international
maritime group urged Indonesia to increase patrols in the South
China Sea after pirates attacked nine vessels in less than three
weeks.
(AP, 9/2/10)
2010 Sep 4, Thousands of
Indonesian Muslims rallied outside the US Embassy in Jakarta to
denounce an American church's plan to mark the anniversary of the
9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Quran. The Dove
World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, has said it will burn
the Islamic holy book on Sep 11, the ninth anniversary of the NYC
terror attacks.
(AP, 9/4/10)
2010 Sep 7, Indonesia’s Mount
Sinabung volcano shot a towering cloud of black ash high into the
air, dusting villages 15 miles (25 km) away in its most powerful
eruption since awakening last week from four centuries of dormancy.
(AP, 9/7/10)
2010 Sep 11, In central
Indonesia flash floods on Borneo Island killed 10 people and left 14
others missing.
(AP, 9/12/10)
2010 Sep 12, In Indonesia
assailants stabbed Asia Sihombing, a Christian worshipper, in the
stomach and pounded Rev. Luspida Simanjuntak in the head with a
wooden plank when she tried to help him as they headed to morning
prayers in Bekasi, 25 miles east of Jakarta.
(AP, 9/12/10)
2010 Sep 13, In Indonesia Yusuf
Sipakoly (52), a political prisoner being detained in Ambon, Maluku,
died while under police custody. His family claimed that he was
tortured by police.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.56)(http://tinyurl.com/3533o26)
2010 Sep 22, In western
Indonesia Muslim militants wearing black masks stormed the tiny
police precinct and unloaded their assault rifles, riddling 3
officers with bullets and shining a spotlight on the country's
changing face of terrorism.
(AP, 10/10/10)
2010 Sep 23, Mohammed Sofyan
Tsauri, a former Indonesian police officer, said he helped al-Qaida
train 170 members of a new terror network in Aceh province soon
after he left the police force in 2008. On Jan 19, 2011, Tsauri (34)
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for supplying weapons to a
terrorist cell allegedly plotting a series of attacks on foreigners.
(AP, 9/23/10)(AP, 1/19/11)
2010 Sep 27, Indonesia and
France served as co-chairs of the Group of 20 Working Group on
Anti-corruption during a 2-day meeting in Jakarta. The WGAC was
among the most significant outcomes of the G20 summit in Toronto in
June 2010.
(www.deplu.go.id/Pages/PressRelease.aspx?IDP=1002&l=en)
2010 Oct 2, In central
Indonesia a train crashed into another parked at a railway station,
killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens, many seriously. The
next day Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said Halik Rudianto,
the train’s engineer, had failed to stop at a red signal. Rudianto
was arrested for negligence.
(AP, 10/2/10)(AP, 10/3/10)
2010 Oct 4, In Indonesia heavy
rain unleashed flash floods and mudslides, killing at least 91
people in West Papua province's village of Wasior. Rescuers
struggled to reach the area.
(AP, 10/5/10)(AP, 10/6/10)(AP, 10/7/10)
2010 Oct 6, In Indonesia
helicopters dropped food to isolated villages and security forces
helped clear debris and search for survivors as the number of people
killed by floods and landslides across Asia climbed to nearly 110.
Three-quarters of the deaths were in eastern Indonesia. In Vietnam
11 bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Quang Binh,
where authorities were also searching for five sailors from a sunken
barge. At least seven other bodies were found in Ha Tinh province,
five in Nghe An and three in Quang Tri. On China's nearby island
province of Hainan, seven straight days of heavy rains left two
people missing and forced 64,000 to evacuate.
(AP, 10/6/10)
2010 Oct 9, Erwin Arnada (47),
the former editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia, began a two-year
prison sentence for publishing pictures of scantily clothed women,
riling free speech activists in the world's most populous Muslim
nation. The Supreme Court had found Arnada guilty of violating
indecency laws during a closed-door session in August, overruling a
2007 acquittal by the South Jakarta District Court.
(AP, 10/9/10)
2010 Oct 13, Australia and
Indonesia agreed to further discuss plans for a refugee centre in
East Timor to stem the flow of asylum seekers through Southeast Asia
on their way to Australia.
(AFP, 10/13/10)
2010 Oct 15, In Indonesia a
rabies outbreak on the resort island of Bali has to date killed 100
people. Bali, an island of 3 million people and one of Asia's top
tourist destinations, has been grappling with the outbreak for
nearly two years.
(AP, 10/15/10)
2010 Oct 22, In eastern
Indonesia the Tersanjung, a small passenger ship, sank off the cape
of Watumanuk on Flores island. It was reportedly carrying 66 people.
44 people were rescued and 22 remained missing.
(AP, 10/22/10)(AP, 10/23/10)
2010 Oct 23, In Indonesia a
small freighter with seven crew was reported to be going down off
Flores. Three people were apparently missing while the others
survived.
(AP, 10/23/10)
2010 Oct 25, In western
Indonesia a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off Sumatra’s coast triggered a
10-foot (3m) tsunami that pounded remote island villages, killing
over 400 people and leaving scores more missing.
(AP, 10/26/10)(AP, 10/29/10)
2010 Oct 26, Indonesia’s Mount
Merapi volcano erupted, prompting terrified villagers to flee and
join the thousands already evacuated from its slopes.
(Reuters, 10/26/10)
2010 Oct 27, In Indonesia
helicopters with emergency supplies finally landed on the remote
islands slammed by a tsunami that killed over 400 people. Elsewhere
in the archipelago the toll from a volcanic eruption rose to 30,
including the mountain's spiritual caretaker.
(AP, 10/26/10)(AP, 10/29/10)
2010 Oct 28, Indonesia's Mount
Merapi erupted for the second time in a week, blasting vast plumes
of ash into the sky, as the death toll from the initial eruption and
a tsunami that hit remote western islands reached 377.
(AP, 10/28/10)
2010 Oct 30, In Indonesia
clouds of gray ash rumbled down the slopes of Mount Merapi in its
most powerful eruption of a deadly week, prompting soldiers to force
reluctant villagers to evacuate amid fears of a larger blast as the
death toll reached 36. Storms again prevented aid deliveries to
increasingly desperate survivors of a tsunami, including a teenage
girl with an open chest wound, that killed 413 people in the
Mentawai islands. The number of missing dropped by half to 163 as
searchers discovered survivors who had fled to the hills.
(AP, 10/30/10)
2010 Nov 1, Indonesia's most
volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, one of 22 that have been
increasingly active, spewed searing clouds of gas and debris for
hours in its most powerful eruption in a deadly week that has left
38 dead.
(AP, 11/1/10)
2010 Nov 4, In Indonesia clouds
of hot ash gushed from the Mount Merapi volcano, forcing motorists
in cities 20 miles (30 km) away to use their headlights in broad
daylight and raising aviation concerns. The death toll climbed to
44.
(AP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 5, In Indonesia
searing gas avalanched down the Mount Merapi volcano with a
thunderous roar, torching houses and trees and incinerating
villagers as they fled. About 70 more people were killed raising the
death toll to 122.
(AP, 11/5/10)(Econ, 11/13/10, p.50)
2010 Nov 6, Airlines cancelled
at least 36 flights to and from Jakarta, affecting international
carriers from Europe to Asia, because of ash from the Mount Merapi
volcano.
(AFP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 8, In Indonesia
frightened residents abandoned their homes in Yogyakarta, a bustling
city of 400,000 at the foot of Mount Merapi, as authorities warned
the volcano could erupt again at any time. 153 people have been
killed in the last two weeks.
(AP, 11/8/10)(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 9, President Barack
Obama arrived in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
He voiced support for Pres. Yudhoyono's efforts to nurture a rapidly
growing society even in a time when Indonesia has been hit by
earthquakes, a tsunami, and now a volcanic eruption. He also
expressed deep concern that Israelis and Palestinians aren't making
the "extra effort" to secure a breakthrough for achieving Middle
East peace.
(AP, 11/9/10)
2010 Nov 10, Indonesia's Mount
Merapi volcano spewed clouds of ash high into the sky, forcing some
international airlines to again cancel flights and President Barack
Obama to cut short his visit.
(AP, 11/10/10)
2010 Nov 14, In Indonesia
rescuers digging through several feet of ash discovered nine more
bodies on the slopes of Mount Merapi, whose explosive eruption a
week ago buried whole villages. Confirmation of more deaths trickled
in and the toll from a series of blasts at the volcano rose to
at least 250.
(AP, 11/14/10)
2010 Nov 15, In Indonesia Gayus
Tambunan (31) broke into tears when he admitted in a hearing at the
South Jakarta District Court that yes, he was the wigged man
captured by photographers at the international tennis match on Nov
5. Tambunan, a midlevel tax official with a salary of just $1,300 a
month, was supposed to be in jail. He has been charged with
pocketing at least $2.7 million from dozens of big companies to help
them avoid paying taxes. 9 wardens have been arrested and face
charges of accepting up to $40,000 from the tax official. Tambunan
allegedly left the jail at least 60 times since his detention in
April. On Jan 19, 2011, he was sentenced to seven years behind bars
for corruption.
(AP, 11/16/10)(AP, 1/19/11)
2010 Nov 17, Indonesia’s
disaster agency said that the death toll due to Mount Merapi had
risen to 275 and that most of the people were killed by searing gas
clouds. Others died during panicked evacuations or from respiratory
problems and other illnesses linked to the volcano.
(AP, 11/18/10)
2010 Nov 19, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that an inquiry will be
launched into a female migrant's suspicious death in Saudi Arabia.
Kikim Komalasari, who had worked in Abha city in Saudi Arabia since
June 2009, had died from abuse. She was from Cianjur in West Java
province.
(AFP, 11/19/10)
2010 Nov 21, In Indonesia the
death toll from the Mount Merapi volcano rose to 304 after more
victims succumbed to severe burns and illnesses.
(SFC, 11/22/10, p.A2)
2010 Nov 21, A global tiger
summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, approved a wide-ranging
program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in
the wild by 2022 backed by governments of the 13 countries that
still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
and Russia. Experts wild tigers could become extinct in 12 years if
countries where they still roam fail to take quick action to protect
their habitats and step up the fight against poaching.
(AP, 11/21/10)
2010 Nov 23, Saudi media said a
Saudi woman (53), accused of torturing her Indonesian maid, has been
sent to jail while the maid, Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa (23),
receives extensive hospital treatment for burns and broken bones.
(AFP, 11/23/10)
2010 Nov 24, Indonesian Muslim
cleric Pujiono Cahyo Widianto (46), who sparked a national outcry by
marrying a 12-year-old girl, was sentenced to four years in prison.
(AP, 11/24/10)
2010 Dec 1, Human Rights Watch
urged Indonesia to overturn the Shariah laws in Aceh province, in
effect since 2001, due to alleged widespread rights abuses.
(SFC, 12/2/10, p.A11)
2010 Dec 10, Indonesian police
arrested Abu Tholut (42), one of the country's most-wanted Muslim
militants, accusing him of plotting high-profile assassinations and
bloody attacks on foreigners at luxury hotels in the capital. Tholut
identified four more militants. Anwar Effendi, Wardi, Sukirno, and
Sri Puji Mulyo Siswanto were suspected of concealing information
about terrorism and of hiding Tholut. All 4 were arrested by the
next day.
(AP, 12/10/10)(AP, 12/14/10)
2010 Dec 31, The Jakarta-based
Legal Aid Foundation said in a new report that law enforcement
officials from police to prison wardens routinely torture Indonesian
suspects and convicts to extract confessions or obtain information.
(AP, 12/31/10)
2010 In Indonesia WHO reported
that some 400,000 people die each year from smoking-related
illnesses. Anti-smoking groups teamed up with Muhammadiyah, the
country’s 2nd largest Islamic organization, to issue a fatwa
declaring smoking haram, i.e. forbidden under Islam.
(Econ, 5/1/10, p.44)
2010 In Indonesia a video
circulated widely on the Internet late showed men in uniform burning
the genitals of a suspected separatist and running a knife across
the neck of another, sparking an international outcry. In 2011 three
soldiers were charged with the relatively minor offense of
disobeying orders, which carried a maximum penalty of 30 months in
prison. The 3 soldiers were sentenced on Jan 24 for up to ten months
in prison, angering rights activists who slammed the lenient verdict
as a sham underlining the military's impunity.
(AP, 1/14/11)(AP, 1/24/11)
2011 Jan 10, Canada-based
Research In Motion said it will filter pornographic internet content
for its Blackberry smartphone users in Indonesia, following
government pressure to stop access to porn sites or face its
browsing service being shut down.
(Reuters, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 14, In Indonesia a
group armed with guns and arrows attacked an army post in Papua, and
one Papuan was killed and another wounded in the exchange.
(AP, 1/14/11)
2011 Jan 17, Canada-based
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry, promised
Indonesia it will meet the country's request to filter out
pornographic content on its smartphones in the next four days.
(AP, 1/17/11)
2011 Jan 28, Two Indonesian
passenger trains crashed killing 3 people in West Java province. A
crowded ferry burst into flames off Java, killing at least 18 people
and sending hundreds to the hospital, many in critical condition.
(AP, 1/28/11)(AP, 1/31/11)
2011 Jan 31, In Indonesia
popstar Nazril “Ariel" Irham was sentenced to 3˝ years in
prison after sex tapes with his celebrity girlfriends found their
way to the Internet.
(SFC, 2/1/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 2, Indonesian
prosecutors formally charged Abu Bakar Bashir (72), spiritual head
of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, with planning
terrorist attacks. He was also was charged with helping fund a new
terror cell in Aceh province and mobilizing foot soldiers.
(AP, 2/2/11)
2011 Feb 6, In central
Indonesia a machete-wielding mob of Muslims attacked the home of a
minority sect leader, killing 3 and wounding 6 others in Tamanggung.
Some 1,500 people, many with machetes, sticks and rocks, attacked
about 20 members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect who were visiting
their leader in his house in Banten province. Java Island. Dani bin
Misra (17) smashed a rock repeatedly into the skull of Roni Pasaroni
as the crowd yelled "Allahu Akbar" or God is Great. Ahmadiyah is
considered deviant by most Muslims and banned in many Islamic
countries because of its belief that Muhammad was not the final
prophet. Police later arrested 10 suspects related to the attacks.
On July 28 twelve members of the mob were received sentenced of 3-6
months. Dani bin Misra was released from jail after 3 months.
(AP, 2/6/11)(SFC, 2/12/11, p.A2)(SFC, 7/29/11,
p.A2)(AP, 8/9/11)
2011 Feb 8, In Indonesia more
than 1,500 Muslims went on the rampage in Central Java, setting two
churches alight and ransacking a school, after a Christian man was
sentenced to five years' jail for blaspheming Islam. The group
wanted him punished with death.
(AP, 2/8/11)
2011 Feb 9, Indonesia's biggest
palm oil producer pledged to follow new standards to protect
carbon-rich forests and peatlands, in a move cautiously welcomed by
environmentalists including Greenpeace. A suspect was arrested in
his Jakarta art shop during a raid carried out by police and
forestry officials for allegedly using the Internet to sell hundreds
of illegal wildlife parts, from ivory and tiger skins to the teeth
of the world's smallest bears.
(AFP, 2/9/11)(AP, 2/17/11)
2011 Feb 16, Indonesian marine
police said they have up 129 starving men from Myanmar off the coast
of Aceh. The refugees all belonged to the Rohingya minority, who are
not recognized by Myanmar’s military rulers.
(SFC, 2/17/11, p.A2)
2011 Feb 24, An Indonesian
court sentenced Islamic preacher Murhali Barda (37) to
five-and-a-half months in jail for misusing his status to encourage
"Muslim lions" to rally at a church, which led to the beating and
stabbing of two Christians. He had already served about five months
and was expected to walk out of jail within days.
(Reuters, 2/24/11)
2011 Mar 3, Indonesian
journalist Banjir Ambarita, who covered a police sex scandal, was
treated in the hospital after being stabbed in the stomach and
chest. Ambarita had written about three police officers who
confessed to sexually abusing a female detainee.
(AP, 3/3/11)
2011 Mar 15, In Indonesia a
small mail bomb addressed to a moderate Muslim leader exploded in
Jakarta as police were trying to defuse it, wounding four people.
(AP, 3/15/11)
2011 Mar 29, Intelligence
officials in Indonesia and Philippines said Umar Patek (40), a
suspected member of the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah
Islamiyah, has been arrested in Pakistan. The senior Indonesian
al-Qaida operative was wanted in the 2002 Bali bombings. Patek's
exact whereabouts were not immediately known.
(AP, 3/30/11)
2011 Mar 31, Indonesia arrested
43 Afghans who were trying to reach Australia illegally.
(AP, 3/31/11)
2011 Apr 3, Indonesian
authorities arrested a Filipino woman, coming from Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, with more than two pounds (one kg) of heroin at the Adi
Sumarmo Airport in Solo. She was allegedly paid $8,000 by an
international drug syndicate to carry the heroin.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 11, Indonesian
lawmaker Arifinto (50), a member of the staunchly Islamic Prosperous
Justice Party who helped pass a tough anti-pornography law, resigned
after he got caught watching sexually explicit videos on his
computer during a parliamentary debate.
(AP, 4/11/11)
2011 Apr 11, In San Francisco
the annual Goldman Environmental prize was awarded 6 people from
around the world. The winners included Hilton Kelly for his efforts
to cut pollution in Port Arthur, Texas; Francisco Pineda for
resisting mining in El Salvador; Ursula Sladek of Germany for
creating for reducing her community’s reliance on nuclear power;
Prigi Arisandi for her efforts to protect Indonesia’s Surabaya
River; Dmitry Lisitsyn for his efforts to protect the Russia’s
Sakhalin island; and Raoul du Toit for defending wildlife in
Zimbabwe.
(SFC, 4/11/11, p.A12)
2011 Apr 15, In Indonesia
suicide bomber Muhammad Syarif (32) blew himself up as police were
praying in the West Java town of Cirebon, wounding 30 people in the
first attack on a mosque since extremists started targeting the
predominantly Muslim country a decade ago.
(AP, 4/15/11)(AP, 4/16/11)(AFP, 10/8/11)
2011 Apr 21, In Indonesia
police arrested 19 terror suspects who then led them to five massive
bombs buried beneath a gas pipeline near a church just outside the
capital. The explosives had been set to detonate by cell phone at
around 9 a.m. on Good Friday.
(AP, 4/21/11)
2011 May 7, In Indonesia a
passenger plane carrying 25 people plunged into the ocean as it
approached an airport in bad weather in the eastern province of West
Papua. There were no survivors.
(AP, 5/7/11)(AP, 5/8/11)
2011 May 14, Indonesia's
anti-terrorism forces killed two suspected militants in a predawn
raid in Central Java. A nearby rice vendor was killed in crossfire
in Sukoharjo district.
(AP, 5/14/11)
2011 Jun 3, A global maritime
watchdog warned ships traversing the South China Sea bordering
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore following the hijack of three
tugboats and a barge in recent weeks.
(AFP, 6/3/11)
2011 Jun 4, In Indonesia two
suspected terrorists were killed during a gunbattle in a raid in
Poso, Central Sulawesi province. The two were allegedly linked to
the assailants who killed two police officers and wounded another
last week in Palu.
(AP, 6/4/11)
2011 Jun 16, Indonesian Muslim
cleric Abu Bakar Bashir (72), known as spiritual leader of the
militants who carried out the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, was
sentenced to 15 years in prison for his support of a terror training
camp uncovered last year. On Oct 20 an appeals court reduced the
sentence to 9 years.
(AP, 6/16/11)(AP, 10/26/11)
2011 Jun 18, Saudi Arabia
beheaded Ruyati binti Satubi (54), an Indonesian grandmother, for
killing an allegedly abusive Saudi employer. In response Indonesia
later enacted a moratorium on labor exports to Saudi Arabia
effective August 1.
(SFC, 8/10/11, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/3wvhbpm)
2011 Jun 20, In Indonesia Abu
Tholut (50), one of the nation’s top terrorism suspects, went on
trial on charges of helping set up a terrorist training camp for a
group that plotted attacks on foreigners and assassinations of the
country's moderate Muslim leaders. Arrested in December, Tholut is
one of more than 120 alleged members of the "Tanzim Al Qaeda in
Aceh" group to have been captured or killed since the camp was
uncovered.
(AP, 6/20/11)
2011 Jun 21, Three Indonesians,
radicalized by the teachings of a firebrand Muslim cleric, were
sentenced to six years in prison for involvement in a terror plot.
(AP, 6/21/11)
2011 Jun 22, In Indonesia
indigenous peoples of Borneo demanded a halt to internationally
backed forest conservation schemes, saying they are trampling their
rights and robbing their lands.
(AFP, 6/22/11)
2011 Jun 24, Playboy
Indonesia's former editor was released from prison after the
country's top court overturned his indecency conviction for
publishing pictures of scantily clad women.
(AP, 6/24/11)
2011 Jun 25, In Indonesia a
passenger bus plunged from a hill into a trench on Sumatra island,
killing 14 people.
(AP, 6/26/11)
2011 Jun 30, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed his brother-in-law, who
rights groups say may have been responsible for abuses in East Timor
in 1999, as the nation's new army chief.
(AFP, 6/30/11)
2011 Jul 1, In Indonesia an
18-month-old Sumatran tiger died seven days after it fell into a
trap and within three hours of being tranquilized by local
conservation officials. The trap was on the border of an acacia
forest and an APP logging concession. Estimates of the number of
Sumatran tigers remaining in the world range from 300 to 400.
(AP, 7/26/11)
2011 Jul 3, In Indonesia the
Mount Soputan volcano erupted on Sulawesi island.
(SFC, 7/4/11, p.A2)
2011 Jul 6, Australia announced
it would lift a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia and resume
trade with additional safeguards in place to address animal cruelty
concerns.
(AFP, 7/6/11)
2011 Jul 11, In Indonesia a man
reportedly trying to show students how to make explosives was killed
by a homemade bomb inside an Islamic boarding school on Sumbawa
Island.
(AP, 7/12/11)
2011 Jul 14, In Indonesia Mount
Lokon on Sulawesi island burst into life late at night and continued
to spew ash and searing gas into the air well into the next morning,
prompting more than 4,500 residents to head to safety.
(AFP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 15, Indonesian police
arrested Abrori Ali, the headmaster of an Islamic boarding school in
the Sumba island town of Bima, after a man there died earlier this
week, reportedly while trying to teach students how to make homemade
bombs.
(AP, 7/15/11)
2011 Jul 17, In Indonesia the
Mount Lokon volcano on northern Sulawesi island erupted again and
released the greatest amount of energy so far, shooting soot and
debris 11,400 feet (3,500 meters) into the sky.
(AP, 7/17/11)
2011 Jul 19, In Indonesia some
15,000 underprivileged Indonesian newlyweds from various faiths
joined a mass reception to receive free marriage certificates that
they otherwise could not afford.
(AP, 7/19/11)
2011 Jul 21, In Indonesia
unidentified gunmen ambushed soldiers and killed one of them in the
easternmost province of Papua. A small, poorly armed separatist
group, known as Free Papua Movement, or OPM, has battled for
independence since 1969.
(AP, 7/21/11)
2011 Jul 31, In eastern
Indonesia clashes between supporters of rival candidates in upcoming
local elections killed 17 people and injured dozens in remote Papua
province.
(AP, 7/31/11)
2011 Aug 1, In Indonesia
unknown gunmen killed four people in a pre-dawn ambush on a road
outside Jayapura, Papua province.
(AFP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 2, In Indonesia some
10,000 Papuans protested for independence, defying a heavy police
presence a day after a deadly ambush that police blamed on
separatist rebels.
(AFP, 8/2/11)
2011 Aug 3, In Indonesia 9
people, including two Australians, two South Africans and five
Indonesians, were killed when a helicopter flying to a Newcrest mine
crashed with 10 on board.
(AFP, 8/4/11)
2011 Aug 8, In Colombia
Muhammad Nazarruddin (32), the ex-treasurer of Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's party, was reported arrested in Cartagena
after weeks on the run over corruption allegations. Nazarruddin has
been on the run since May when anti-graft investigators linked him
to a bribery scandal involving contracts on a 23-million-dollar
athletes' village for the Southeast Asian Games scheduled in
November.
(AFP, 8/9/11)(Econ, 2/25/12, p.51)
2011 Aug 11, Umar Patek (41), a
key suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, was
escorted home to Indonesia under tight security to stand trial, six
months after he was captured in the same northwestern Pakistani town
where Osama bin Laden was killed. The al-Qaida-linked militant, had
a $1 million bounty on his head when authorities caught up with him
on Jan. 25 in Abbottabad.
(AP, 8/11/11)
2011 Aug 15, In Indonesia Deden
Sudjana (48), wounded when Islamic hard-liners launched a deadly
attack on his minority sect, was sentenced to six months in prison,
more than some of those caught on video taking part in the Feb 6
lynching.
(AP, 8/15/11)
2011 Aug 25, In Indonesia Aceh
Gov. Irwandi Yusuf (51) agreed to give PT Kallista Alam, a palm oil
company, a permit to convert 4,000 acres of peat swamp forest.
The land was in the heart of the renowned Leuser Ecosystem already
identified as off limits under a presidential moratorium enacted in
May.
(SSFC, 12/11/11, p.A22)
2011 Aug 27, Off eastern
Indonesia a ferry sank off southern Sulawesi killing at least 12
people. 93 people were rescued, but others were feared trapped.
(SSFC, 8/28/11, p.A6)
2011 Sep 9, In Indonesia the
colorful 137-page comic "I Found the Meaning of Jihad," began
appearing in bookstores authored by former al-Qaida-linked militant
Nasir Abas (42).
(AP, 9/9/11)
2011 Sep 9, Malaysia’s
Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas sent a letter to his
Indonesian counterpart about hundreds of suspected fires on Sumatra
island.
(AFP, 9/10/11)
2011 Sep 11, In eastern
Indonesia clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs left 5 people
dead and more than a dozen injured in Ambon, Maluku province.
(AP, 9/11/11)(AP, 9/12/11)
2011 Sep 12, Thai PM Yingluck
Shinawatra, in her fist state visit to Indonesia, vowed to improve
economic cooperation with Indonesia, particularly in the
agriculture, energy and tourism sectors.
(AFP, 9/12/11)
2011 Sep 16, In Indonesia
Jakarta city governor Fauzi Bowo called on women not to wear
miniskirts when riding on public transport in the capital after a
27-year-old woman was attacked in a public minivan early this month.
The next day Governor Bowo apologized for his remarks as some 50
women donned miniskirts to protest his remarks.
(AFP, 9/18/11)
2011 Sep 25, In Indonesia
suicide bomber Achmad Yosepa Hayat attacked the packed Bethel Injil
Church in Solo, central Java, wounding at least 27 people, some
critically, and sending terrified worshippers rushing out into the
streets in panic.
(AFP, 9/25/11)(AFP, 10/8/11)
2011 Sep 29, In Indonesia a
Casa 212 turboprop plane, carrying 14 passengers including four
children, and four crew, went down after departing Medan city, in
Sumatra. All 18 were killed.
(AFP, 9/30/11)(AFP, 10/1/11)
2011 Oct 4, An Australian boy
(14) was arrested in Indonesia for having bought 0.13 ounces (3.6
grams) of marijuana. He faced 12 years in detention under tough
narcotics laws. The boy was released on Dec 4 because he admitted
the purchase and repeatedly expressed remorse.
(AP, 12/4/11)
2011 Oct 8, Indonesia's
counter-terrorism police arrested five people in connection with the
April 15 suicide bombing of a mosque.
(AFP, 10/8/11)
2011 Oct 10, Indonesian police
shot and killed one protester and wounded another as they clashed
with striking workers at a mine run by US company Freeport McMoran.
The clash erupted when police tried to stop more than 1,000 workers,
who began their strike on September 15, from entering a facility at
the Grasberg mining complex.
(AFP, 10/10/11)
2011 Oct 12, Indonesia
lawmakers passed a new security bill, the Law on State
Intelligence."
(Econ, 11/19/11, p.53)
2011 Oct 13, In Indonesia a 6.0
earthquake jolted the island of Bali, injuring dozens of people and
causing panic as hundreds of tourists fled violently shaking
buildings.
(AFP, 10/13/11)
2011 Oct 13, Greenpeace UK
director John Sauven was blocked by immigration officials on arrival
at Jakarta international airport and was sent back that night to
Britain. He had arrived to campaign against deforestation.
(AFP, 10/14/11)
2011 Oct 19, In Indonesia at
least three people were killed and more than 90 injured during a
pro-independence celebration in the Papuan capital Jayapura. Local
TV footage showed paramilitary police shooting into the crowd and
beating participants with batons and bare fists.
(AFP, 1/30/12)
2011 Oct 21, In Indonesia
gunmen shot dead three people at a strike-hit gold and copper mine
in the eastern Papua region, raising the number of killings this
month to eight at the troubled Grasberg mine, operated by Freeport
McMoRan. The strikers, mostly indigenous Melanesians, say they are
the lowest paid Freeport workers in the world, earning between $1.50
and $3.50 an hour.
(AFP, 10/21/11)
2011 Oct, Indonesia promised to
provide all of its citizens with health insurance by 2014.
(Economist, 9/8/12, p.11)
2011 Nov 8, Indonesian police
said they had arrested a British-born man accused of molesting nine
children following a tip-off from authorities in Britain. The
61-year-old man, who became an Indonesian citizen after changing his
nationality, was also allegedly involved in an online child
pornography network.
(AFP, 11/8/11)
2011 Nov 10, The International
Union for Conservation of Nature said the Western Black Rhino of
Africa has been declared officially extinct. The Javan Rhino was
said to be "probably extinct" in Vietnam, after poachers killed the
last animal there in 2010. A small but declining population of the
Javan Rhino still survived on the Indonesian island of Java.
(AP, 11/10/11)
2011 Nov 11, Indonesia opened
the 26th Southeast Asian Games with more than 6,000 athletes from 11
countries participating in the biennial games.
(AP, 11/12/11)
2011 Nov 17, The 3-day East
Asia Summit (EAS), bringing together the 10-member Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight dialogue partners, opened
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. President Barack Obama
became the first US leader to attend an East Asia summit. Leaders
from 18 nations gathered to discuss territorial disputes in the
South China Sea, democratic reforms in military-dominated Myanmar,
mitigating natural disasters, currency, trade and other issues.
(AP, 11/19/11)(Econ, 11/12/11, p.50)
2011 Nov 18, Indonesia’s Lion
Air said it is planning to buy 230 planes from Boeing Co. The list
price of $21.7 billion will be paid over 12 years though bank
financing.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 18, In eastern
Indonesia gunmen killed a mining company guard and wounded two
policemen in a patrol car near the large Freeport-McMoRan gold mine.
(AP, 11/18/11)
2011 Nov 19, China’s Premier
Wen Jiabao told US President Barack Obama that China would increase
the flexibility of the yuan while stressing that reforms had already
had an effect. The spoke on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in
Indonesia.
(AFP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 22, In Indonesia the
Southeast Asian Games were formally closed by Indonesia Vice
President Budiono. Indonesia earned a table-topping 182 golds among
476 medals, followed by Thailand with 109 among 329.
(AP, 11/22/11)
2011 Nov 23, Indonesian police
said they have arrested two plantation workers for killing 20
endangered orangutans and other apes as pest control for palm oil
companies. They were paid one million rupiah ($111) for each dead
orangutan and 200,000 rupiah for every monkey killed.
(AFP, 11/23/11)
2011 Nov 26, In central
Indonesia a busy bridge collapsed in East Kalimantan province,
killing at least 4 people and injuring 17 others as a bus, cars and
motorcycles crashed into the Mahakam river. 40 people were missing.
(AP, 11/26/11)(AP, 11/27/11)
2011 Dec 4, In Indonesia 11
people were killed when a high concrete wall collapsed in a housing
complex during a heavy downpour in Makassar, Sulawesi island.
(AP, 12/4/11)
2011 Dec 10, Indonesian police
in Aceh, the country's most conservative province, raided a
punk-rock concert and detained 65 fans, buzzing off their spiky
mohawks and stripping away body piercings because of the perceived
threat to Islamic values.
(AP, 12/14/11)
2011 Dec 16, Indonesia's
Parliament passed a long-awaited law allowing the government to
acquire land for public projects by paying compensation. The law
must be signed by the president within 30 days before taking effect.
(AP, 12/16/11)
2011 Dec 17, An overcrowded
ship of asylum seekers sank off the island of Java. Indonesian
rescuers battled high waves as they searched for survivors. Nearly
250 people fleeing economic and political hardship in Afghanistan,
Iraq, Iran and Turkey were trying to reach Australia in search of a
better life when their fiberglass ship broke apart. Only 47 people
survived.
(AP, 12/18/11)(AFP, 12/20/11)
2011 Dec 21, In Indonesia 4
people were killed but 100 rescued when an overloaded boat sank. The
wooden boat was carrying villagers returning home for the Christmas
holidays.
(AFP, 12/21/11)
2011 Dec 22, Indonesian police
arrested eight people in connection with an overloaded boat carrying
250 asylum seekers that capsized on Dec 17 en route to Australia, as
the confirmed death toll reached 90.
(AFP, 12/22/11)
2011 Dec 24, In eastern
Indonesia 2 people were killed and 10 others injured during a
violent protest as some 1,000 people protested to stop a gold mining
project by Australia's Arc Exploration Ltd. and Indonesian partner,
PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara. Villagers feared the project will
destroy their land and threaten forests and water resources.
(AP, 12/25/11)
2011 Dec 24, In Indonesia a
rampaging wild elephant trampled a farmer to death on Sumatra
island. Only 3,000 Sumatran elephants are believed to remain in the
wild.
(AP, 12/25/11)
2011 Dec 27, In eastern
Indonesia mudflows streaming from a volcano killed four villagers
and about 1,000 others have fled their homes. Mount Gamalama in the
Molucca Islands sprang to life this month with a powerful, non-fatal
eruption.
(AP, 12/28/11)
2011 Dec 29, In Indonesia a mob
led by Sunni fanatics torched Shia property in eastern Java. Local
police did nothing to protect the minority Shias.
(Econ, 1/21/12, p.52)
2011 In Saudi Arabia Satinah
Binti Jumadi Ahmad, an Indonesian maid, was sentenced to death for
murdering her employer's wife in 2007 and stealing money. In 2014
the Indonesian government agreed to pay $1.8 million to free Satinah
(41).
(AFP, 3/24/14)(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2011 Indonesia’s population was
about 237 million.
(Econ, 2/19/11, p.43)
2012 Jan 16, In Indonesia 30
Pakistani and Afghan immigrants tunneled their way out of an
detention center in Surabaya using spoons, nails and wooden sticks.
Police soon arrested 11 of the escapees leaving 19 at large.
(AFP, 1/18/12)
2012 Jan 19, Indonesia's
forestry ministry said it would conserve nearly half its share of
Borneo island, which is covered with dense rainforest, so as to meet
a presidential pledge to reduce gas emissions.
(AFP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 19, In eastern
Indonesia a crocodile swallowed a 10-year-old girl while she played
in the Wailolong river with her father, the second death in the same
place in two months.
(AFP, 1/19/12)
2012 Jan 20, Indonesian police
said a civil servant, who declared himself an atheist on Facebook,
has been arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being
attacked by an angry mob. Alexander Aan (30), who wrote "God doesn't
exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens on Jan 18
in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province. An was also
an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1,243
followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his
arrest.
(AFP, 1/20/12)
2012 Jan 25, In Indonesia 7
people were killed and 51 injured as heavy rains from by Tropical
Cyclone Iggy lashed the country, bringing down trees and power lines
and damaging hundreds of homes.
(AFP, 1/26/12)
2012 Jan 30, An Indonesian
court indicted five activists for treason in the restive Papua
region after they raised an outlawed Papuan flag on Oct 19 and
declared its independence.
(AFP, 1/30/12)
2012 Feb 13, An Indonesian
woman died of H5N1 bird flu a day after being admitted to a hospital
in Tangerang district on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta. This
was Indonesia's third human death from the deadly disease this year.
(AFP, 2/21/12)
2012 Feb 14, Some 200
Indonesians converged on a Jakarta square to denounce the Islamic
Defenders Front (FPI), an Islamic vigilante group known for its
armed attacks on minorities and moderates.
(AFP, 2/14/12)
2012 Feb 22, Indonesian police
and military forces opened fire at the Kerobokan prison on Bali
island after a second night of riots. The violence was triggered by
the stabbing of an inmate during a brawl a week ago. By night
inmates had chased away all 13 guards and seized full control of the
compound.
(AFP, 2/22/12)(AP, 2/23/12)
2012 Feb 27, Indonesia's top
court upheld a 15-year jail term against Islamist militant Abu Bakar
Bashir for terrorist acts, reversing an earlier decision to slash
the sentence to nine years.
(AFP, 2/27/12)
2012 Mar 2, It was reported
that thousands of male Indonesian civil servants had their monthly
pay transferred to their wives' bank accounts this week in a bid by
a local government to stop men having affairs.
(AFP, 3/2/12)
2012 Mar 16, Britain’s
Environment Agency said Indonesia has asked Britain to take back
1,800 tons of waste after inspectors found liquid and illegal mixed
waste in containers marked as "scrap metal."
(AFP, 3/16/12)
2012 Mar 18, Indonesia police
fatally shot five men who were suspected of planning robberies of
money changers, jewelers and other targets on the resort island of
Bali so they could fund terrorist attacks.
(AP, 3/19/12)
2012 Mar 18, In Indonesia at
least 10 members of one family were killed, as their minivan spun
out of control after colliding with a moving train and flipped over
in a nearby rice field in West Java province.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2012 Mar 21, In France a
package bomb exploded at Indonesia’s embassy in Paris. French
investigators soon confirmed that the main suspect is Frederic C.
Jean Salvi, who is believed to have studied for several years with
Islamic militants in Indonesia.
(AP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 27, In Indonesia
thousands protested nationwide to reject the government's plan to
hike the subsidized fuel price, with sporadic violence breaking out
and injuring several people.
(AFP, 3/27/12)
2012 Mar 28, A coalition of
environmental groups warned that some 200 critically-endangered
orangutans in a protected area of Indonesia’s Aceh province will be
wiped out by the end of the year if land clearing in Tripa Swamp is
not stopped.
(AFP, 3/28/12)
2012 Mar 29, Thousands of
Indonesians rallied nationwide against a planned fuel price hike
they say will cause great hardship. Parliament was expected on March
30 to approve raising the fuel price by a third.
(AFP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 30, Indonesian police
killed two suspected terrorists in a raid on the outskirts of
Jakarta. Anti-terror police confiscated a revolver, explosive
materials, several books about jihad and documents outlining a bank
robbery.
(AFP, 3/30/12)
2012 Apr 8, A tanker travelling
from Australia to Singapore found some 120 asylum seekers, all
believed to be men from Afghanistan and Iran, on a sinking boat in
Indonesian waters and rescued them.
(AFP, 4/8/12)
2012 Apr 9, Indonesia's only
province ruled by Islamic law went to the polls to elect its
powerful governor, testing a fragile peace following a 30-year war
by separatist rebels. Irwandi Yusuf (51), the incumbent who was
elected in December 2006, sought a second five-year term as governor
of Aceh. Challenger Zaini Abdullah (71) of the powerful Aceh Party
won 55% of the vote. Yusuf took 29%.
(AFP, 4/9/12)(Econ, 4/14/12, p.51)
2012 Apr 10, In Indonesia some
120 asylum seekers, mostly Afghans and some Iranians, demanded that
Indonesia provide a vessel to allow them to continue to Australia,
refusing to leave a tanker that rescued them at sea.
(AFP, 4/10/12)
2012 Apr 11, Indonesian carrier
Garuda International and European plane manufacturer Airbus signed a
$2.5 billion deal in Jakarta, as British PM David Cameron visited
Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
(AFP, 4/11/12)
2012 Apr 11, A huge earthquake
struck beneath the Indian Ocean and triggered a burst of large
quakes around the world. At least 4 faults ruptured within 100
seconds to create a giant quake with a combined magnitude of 8.7 off
the island of Sumatra.
(AFP, 4/11/12)(SFC, 9/27/12, p.A1)
2012 Apr 13, Indonesian police
arrested two suspected terrorists in the town of Bima in West Nusa
Tenggara province. The suspects were part of a terror group that
killed a police officer in a 2010 bank robbery in the north Sumatra
town of Medan.
(AFP, 4/15/12)
2012 Apr 14, Indonesian
authorities said they had found a boat reported missing en route to
Australia and that some 60 asylum seekers it was carrying were
believed to have fled. The mostly Afghan asylum seekers on board
made a distress call to Australia on April 11, saying they were in
rough seas and their boat was sinking.
(AFP, 4/14/12)
2012 Apr 20, Dive operators and
conservationists said Indonesia's government is not doing enough to
keep illegal fishermen out of the boundaries of the Komodo National
Park, a UN World Heritage site. They said enforcement declined
greatly following the exit two years ago of a US-based environmental
group that helped fight destructive fishing practices.
(AP, 4/20/12)
2012 Apr 21, Indonesian
authorities questioned more than 70 mostly Afghan asylum seekers
bound for Australia after their boat was hit by a powerful wave,
forcing them to swim to shore. There were between 83 and 100 people
on the boat. Police made no connection between this case and another
reported on April 14.
(AFP, 4/21/12)
2012 Apr 25, In central
Indonesia a South African pilot and his Australian passenger were
killed when their Susi Air Pilatus PC-6 aircraft crashed. The
airline identified the pilot as Jonathan James Willis (28).
Indonesian officials identified the passenger as photographer Ian
McDougall (57).
(AFP, 4/25/12)
2012 May 1, May Day moved
beyond its roots as an international workers' holiday to a day of
international protest, with rallies throughout Asia demanding wage
increases and marches planned across Europe over government-imposed
austerity measures. Thousands of Indonesian workers held Asia's
biggest May Day rally, demanding better pay and protection of job
security, watched warily by a heavy police and army presence.
(AP, 5/1/12)(AFP, 5/1/12)
2012 May 8, The Indonesia
Embassy in Singapore said it is pushing for a ban on cleaning
outside windows. 8 Indonesian maids in Singapore have fallen to
their deaths from high-rise apartments this year.
(AP, 5/8/12)
2012 May 9, In Indonesia a
Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed into a volcano south of Jakarta
during a demonstration flight. All 45 people on board were feared
dead. The Superjet, Russia's first new model of passenger jet since
the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago, was in Indonesia as
part of a 6-nation tour of Asia aimed at drumming up new customers.
(AFP, 5/9/12)(AP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 15, In Indonesia a
critically-endangered Sumatran elephant was found dead in Aceh
province, the second death from suspected poisoning within a month.
(AFP, 5/16/12)
2012 May 24, In Indonesia a
landslide killed 8 of 16 people illegally mining for gold, after
days of heavy rain hit a mountainous part of western Java, the
country's main island.
(AFP, 5/25/12)
2012 May 27, In Indonesia 3
people were killed and five badly injured when fans pelted each
other with rocks and bricks in a violent clash at a football match
in Jakarta.
(AFP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 27, Lady Gaga canceled
her sold-out June 3 show in Indonesia after Islamist hard-liners
threatened violence, claiming her sexy clothes and provocative dance
moves would corrupt the youth.
(AP, 5/27/12)
2012 May 30, Indonesian maids
began returning to work in Malaysia three years after a ban was
enforced because of numerous abuse cases. Fewer arrived than had
been expected.
(AFP, 6/3/12)
2012 May 31, In western
Indonesia 3 critically-endangered Sumatran elephants were found dead
in an oil palm plantation. They were believed to have been poisoned.
(AFP, 6/3/12)
2012 Jun 14, In Indonesia mobs
stabbed an onlooker to death, injured four other people and burned
five shops, four cars and more than 20 motorbikes, hours after they
learned police had shot and killed Mako Tabuni, the deputy chairman
of the National Committee for West Papua.
(AP, 6/15/12)
2012 Jun 14, In Indonesia
Alexander Aan (30) was sentenced to 30 months of prison and a
$10,600 fine for posting pro-atheist and anti-Islam comments on
Facebook. He was also fined the equivalent of $10,600. Aan was
arrested in January after an angry mob reacting to the Facebook
posts stormed his office, where he worked as a civil servant.
(http://tinyurl.com/7nvh7m3)
2012 Jun 17, In Indonesia a
boat carrying at least 70 passengers and crew on board, went down
after it was battered by waves up to five meters (16 feet) high in
Maluku province. 12 people were rescued and 58 remained missing.
(AFP, 6/17/12)(AP, 6/19/12)
2012 Jun 18, In Indonesia 2
tribesmen were killed when rival groups armed with bows and arrows
clashed in Indonesia's restive Papua province.
(AFP, 6/18/12)
2012 Jun 21, An Indonesian
court sentenced bombmaker Umar Patek (45) to 20 years' jail for his
role in the 2002 Bali bombings, bringing to an end a 10-year probe
into the nation's deadliest act of terror.
(AFP, 6/21/12)
2012 Jun 21, An Indonesian air
force plane, a Fokker F-27, slammed into a military housing complex
and ignited a huge fireball while trying to land in Jakarta, killing
all seven people aboard as well as two toddlers, their grandmother
and aunt in one of 8 damaged homes.
(AP, 6/21/12)(AP, 6/22/12)
2012 Jun 21, Indonesian and
Australian navies launched efforts to rescue survivors after a Sri
Lanka refugee boat carrying about 200 people, mostly men from
Afghanistan, capsized on its way to Christmas Island. Scores were
feared drowned in an apparent attempt to seek asylum. 110 people
were rescued and about 90 remained missing. On Jan 28 an Indonesian
court sentenced Javaid Mahmood (55), a Pakistani man, for attempting
to smuggle the asylum seekers. He was the 2nd man found guilty in
the case.
(AFP, 6/21/12)(AFP, 6/22/12)(SFC, 1/29/14, p.A2)
2012 Jul 2, Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived in Australia as a
political storm over people-smuggling raged.
(AFP, 7/2/12)
2012 Jul 3, Australia and
Indonesia agreed to work more closely to crack down on
people-smuggling, with visiting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
saying his people were victims of the trade as well.
(AFP, 7/3/12)
2012 Jul 28, In Indonesia a
group of 150 youths, some as young as 13 and carrying swords and
golf clubs, raided the De Most bar in south Jakarta late at night,
smashing bottles of alcoholic drinks and damaging the property.
Police arrested 62 people, most of them minors, who attacked the bar
for serving alcohol during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
(AFP, 7/30/12)
2012 Jul 30, In Indonesia a man
died of bird flu, the country's ninth fatal case this year.
(AFP, 8/11/12)
2012 Aug 18, In Indonesia a
magnitude-6.3 quake struck near Palu city on Sulawesi Island. At
least 6 people were killed.
(AP, 8/20/12)
2012 Aug 26, In Indonesia a
Sunni mob attack on Shiites in Sampang, East Java province, saw two
men killed with sickles and dozens of homes torched.
(AFP, 8/27/12)
2012 Aug 29, An asylum-seeker
boat heading for Australia disappeared off the Indonesian coast with
150 people aboard. Over the next 24 hours rescuers recovered 54
survivors, mostly males from Afghanistan.
(AFP, 8/30/12)(AFP, 8/31/12)
2012 Aug 30, Indonesian
fishermen found 50 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who were trying to
reach Australia, on a boat with a broken engine and brought them
ashore.
(AFP, 9/1/12)
2012 Aug 31, Indonesian
fishermen rescued 43 starving, dehydrated Sri Lankans who had been
adrift in a boat for nine days after their engine broke down while
trying to reach Australia to seek asylum.
(AP, 8/31/12)
2012 Aug 31, In Indonesia 2
suspected militants were killed in a shootout with police in central
Java’s Solo town. The shooting also left one officer dead. Police
were attempting to capture a group responsible for the death of a
policeman a day earlier.
(SSFC, 9/2/12, p.A7)
2012 Sep 4, Indonesia's justice
minister said that his country would extradite Sayed Abbas, an
Afghan-born human trafficking kingpin, to Australia next year. He
was suspected of having arranged the voyage of a vessel that sank in
December, killing some 200 Australia-bound asylum seekers.
(AFP, 9/4/12)
2012 Sep 8, In Indonesia a
suspected militant was critically injured when a bomb apparently
being prepared for a terrorist attack exploded in a house near
Jakarta. At least three other people living nearby were injured
along with two suspects who fled.
(AP, 9/9/12)
2012 Sep 17, In Indonesia
hundreds of people clashed with police outside the US Embassy in
Jakarta.
(SFC, 9/18/12, p.A4)
2012 Sep 26, In Indonesia a
passenger ferry collided with a ship believed to be carrying
liquefied natural gas and sank west of Sumatra island, killing at
least eight people.
(AP, 9/26/12)
2012 Oct 3, In Indonesia more
than 2 million factory workers went on a one-day strike across the
country demanding better benefits and protesting the hiring of
contract workers.
(AP, 10/3/12)
2012 Oct 27, Indonesia's
anti-terror squad arrested 11 people over the last 24 hours
suspected of planning a range of attacks on domestic and foreign
targets including the US and Australian embassies. The suspects
belonged to a new group called the Sunni Movement for Indonesian
Society, or HASMI.
(AP, 10/27/12)
2012 Oct 27, An Indonesia
conservationist said that and orangutan, recently shot with an air
rifle, has been rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo. Rescuers
worked to remove 104 pellets from her body. In 2011 conservationists
found that villagers living on the Indonesian side of Borneo killed
at least 750 endangered orangutans in a year, some to protect crops
from being raided and others for their meat.
(AP, 10/27/12)
2012 Nov 3, Indonesian
anti-terrorism forces shot and killed an alleged militant and
arrested another in a predawn raid in Central Sulawesi province.
(AP, 11/3/12)
2012 Nov 13, Indonesia’s
Constitutional Court said parts of the country’s 2001 oil-and-gas
law were unconstitutional. The court dissolved BPMgas, the state
regulator.
(Econ, 11/24/12, p.72)
2012 Dec 5, In Indonesia
Jakarta police spokesman Col. Rikwanto said any police officer over
100kg (220 pounds) must follow a weight-loss program started because
of the growing number of overweight officers and the perception that
they are unable to provide public protection.
(AP, 12/5/12)
2012 Dec 18, An Indonesian
health official said a boy (4) has died of H5N1 bird flu bringing
the total to 160. At least 360 people have died worldwide from this
virus since 2003.
(SFC, 12/19/12, p.A2)
2012 Indonesia’s population was
about 238 million.
(Econ, 2/25/12, p.51)
2013 Jan 5, Indonesia
anti-terror police shot and killed 5 suspected Islamist militants
over the last 24 hours in raids on the island of Sumbawa.
(SSFC, 1/6/13, p.A4)
2013 Jan 17, Indonesia's army
deployed rubber boats in the capital's business district to rescue
people trapped in floods that inundated much of the city of 14
million people. At least 20 people died and some 40,000 were
displaced.
(AP, 1/17/13)(Econ, 1/26/13, p.38)
2013 Jan 21, In Indonesia
police said flooding in Jakarta has killed at least 26 people and
sent more than 100,000 fleeing from their homes.
(SFC, 1/22/13, p.A2)
2013 Jan 22, An Indonesian
court sentenced British grandmother Lindsay June Sandiford (56), to
death for smuggling 8.4 pounds of cocaine worth $2.5 million in her
suitcase onto the resort island of Bali — even though prosecutors
had sought only a 15-year sentence. Indonesia has not carried out an
execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.
(AP, 1/22/13)(SFC, 4/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Jan 22, A magnitude 6.0
earthquake rocked parts of western Indonesia, killing a 9-year-old
girl, panicking residents and ruining homes.
(AP, 1/22/13)
2013 Jan 27, In Indonesia the
death toll from two separate landslides in West Sumatra province
rose to 16.
(AP, 1/28/13)
2013 Jan 28, In eastern
Indonesia a mob of wild monkeys has gone on a rampage in a
village in South Sulawesi province, entering houses and attacking
residents. Seven people were injured.
(AP, 1/30/13)
2013 Jan 29, An Indonesian
court sentenced British citizen Julian Anthony Ponder (43) to six
years in prison for his role in a cocaine-smuggling case that led to
a death sentence last week for a British grandmother.
(AP, 1/29/13)
2013 Feb 17, The Harita
Bauxite, a bulk carrier, sank near the Philippines. 10 of 24
crewmen, mostly from Myanmar, were rescued. One later died and the
rest remianed missing. The vessel was thought to be carrying nickel
ore from Indonesia.
(SSFC, 4/7/13, p.46)
2013 Feb 21, In Indonesia some
20 assailants killed eight soldiers killed in two attacks in Papua
province. The assailants were identified as members of a local
separatist group led by Goliat Tabuni.
(AP, 2/21/13)
2013 Mar 23, In Indonesia 8
members of the Kopassus special forces forced their way into
Cebongan prison in southern Java. Sgt. Ucok Tigor Simbolon shot dead
4 men, who had been detained on suspicion of killing a soldier. In
Sep Sgt Simbolon was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 11
years in prison. Two accomplices were sentenced to 6 and 8 years.
(Econ, 9/14/13, p.53)
2013 Apr 5, In Indonesia’s in
North Sumatra province Buddhist fishermen and Rohingya Muslim asylum
seekers from Myanmar brawled with knives and rocks at an immigration
detention center, leaving 8 dead and another 15 injured. On Dec 5 a
court in medan sentenced 14 Rohingya to nine months in jail for the
role in the deadly brawl.
(AP, 4/5/13)(SFC, 12/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 13, In Indonesia a
Lion Air plane carrying more than 100 passengers overshot a runway
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali and crashed into the sea.
All of the passengers and crew were evacuated from the plane. 7
passengers were taken to Sanglah hospital with head wounds and
broken bones.
(AP, 4/13/13)
2013 Apr 15, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prize was awarded to six activists for their efforts
to protect the world ecosystem. They included Nohra Padilla (50) of
Colombia, who began organizing waste pickers in Bogota in 1990 into
the Bogota Recyclers’ Assoc.; Rossano Ercolini (57) of Italy for
setting up a trash collection and conservation system; Kimberly
Wasserman (36) of Chicago her grassroots campaign to close polluting
coal-fired power plants; Aleta Baun (50) of Indonesia for organizing
villages on west Timor against mining companies clearing forests for
marble; Azzam Alwash (54) of Iraq for his efforts to restore
Mesopotamian marshland; Jonathan Deal of South Africa for his
efforts against hydraulic fracturing in Karoo.
(SFC, 4/15/13, p.A10)
2013 Apr 27, In Indonesia an
Australia woman (28) was attacked and raped while vacationing with
her family near Bali’s popular Kuta beach. Her assailant also stole
stole three iPads, two cellphones and $154 in cash.
(AP, 4/29/13)
2013 May 2, Indonesia police
arrested Achmad Taufiq (22) and Sefa Riano (29). They were members
of a cell allegedly involved in recent attacks against Indonesian
police. The suspects told authorities they wanted to retaliate
against Myanmar for recent attacks on Rohingya Muslims there.
(AP, 5/3/13)
2013 May 3, In Indonesia up to
2,000 police were deployed to secure the Myanmar Embassy and its
ambassador's house before a demonstration by the Islamic Defenders
Front. Several hundred protesters showed up dressed in white with
some holding banners that read: "We want jihad" and "Stop genocide
in Myanmar."
(AP, 5/3/13)
2013 May 13, Indonesia approved
a two-year extension to a landmark ban on clearing primary
rainforests and peatlands. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed
the decree to continue the 2011 moratorium, which barred new logging
and palm oil plantation permits under a $1 billion deal with Norway.
(AP, 5/16/13)
2013 May 14, In Indonesia 25
workers were trapped after the collapse at a giant gold and copper
Grasberg mine in Mimika district in Papua. On May 22 the last of 28
miners killed was recovered.
(AP, 5/15/13)(SFC, 5/20/13, p.A2)(SFC, 5/23/13,
p.A2)
2013 May 16, Indonesia’s Pres.
Yudhoyono extended a 2-year moratorium on forest clearing
concessions for another 2 years.
(Econ, 5/25/13, p.40)
2013 Jun 1, In Indonesia a
truck driver died at the Grasberg mine, owned by Arizona-based
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., a day after he was injured
when liquid ore material flowed into his vehicle.
(AP, 6/3/13)
2013 Jun 3, Indonesia's
government said it has ordered that production be halted at a gold
and copper mine owned by Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper &
Gold Inc., during an investigation into recent fatal accidents at
the Grasberg mine in easternmost Papua province.
(AP, 6/3/13)
2013 Jun 4, WWF Indonesia said
killings of Sumatran elephants are on the rise, with 29 either shot
or poisoned last year, including 14 in Aceh province. The report
came 3 days after 2 dead Sumatran elephants were found near a paper
plantation in Riau, allegedly poisoned by poachers.
(AP, 6/4/13)
2013 Jun 6, Organizers said
Miss World has axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant in
Indonesia, replacing the skimpy swimsuits with conservative beach
sarongs amid mounting protests from hard-line Muslim groups.
(AP, 6/6/13)
2013 Jun 14, In Indonesia Rusli
Zainal, governor of Riau since 2003, was arrested on charges that
included dishing out illegal logging permits to finance a
forthcoming re-election campaign.
(Econ, 6/29/13, p.39)
2013 Jun 16, Smoke from fires
in Indonesia, an annual result of land clearing for palm oil
production, again began to smother Singapore and large parts of
Malaysia.
(Econ, 6/29/13, p.39)
2013 Jun 20, In Singapore the
Pollutant Standards Index, surged to a record reading of 371. People
were urged to remain indoors as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires
in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. Nearby Malaysia
closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas.
(AP, 6/20/13)
2013 Jul 2, In Indonesia a
magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least 22 people and injured
hundreds in Aceh province.
(AP, 7/3/13)
2013 Jul 11, In Indonesia some
200 prisoners escaped from a maximum security prison in Medan after
a protest over a lack of water and electricity turned violent.
(Reuters, 7/11/13)
2013 Jul 12, In Indonesia
security forces regained control of a Tanjung Gusta prison in Medan
where inmates had set fires and started a deadly riot that left 5
people dead and hundreds of prisoners, including convicted
terrorists, on the loose.
(AP, 7/12/13)
2013 Jul 14, In eastern
Indonesia 17 people were killed in a stadium stampede after
spectators rioted just before midnight to protest a local boxer's
loss in a championship match at the Kota Lama Sport Stadium.
(AP, 7/15/13)
2013 Jul 23, A boat sank off
the southern coast of Indonesia. At least 15 people died. 189 of an
estimated 204 suspected asylum seekers were rescued. Most were from
Iraq, Iran and Sri Lanka.
(Reuters, 7/24/13)(SFC, 7/27/13, p.A2)
2013 Aug 10, In eastern
Indonesia gushing hot lava from the erupting Mount Rokatenda volcano
killed 6 people sleeping in a beach village on Palue island. Ash and
smoke shot up to 2 km into the air.
(AP, 8/10/13)
2013 Aug 13, Indonesia's
anti-graft agency arrested Rudi Rubiandini the head of energy
regulator SKKMigas to probe allegations he took more than half a
million dollars from an oil firm. Pres. Yudhoyono suspended him the
next day.
(Reuters, 8/14/13)(Econ, 8/24/13, p.38)
2013 Aug 17, Indonesian police
said unidentified gunmen have killed 2 police officers near Jakarta.
(SSFC, 8/18/13, p.A3)
2013 Sep 5, In Indonesia some
1,000 members of the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia resumed
protests against the Miss World pageant to be held this weekend in
Bali.
(SFC, 9/6/13, p.A4)
2013 Sep 8, Indonesia moved the
final round of the Miss World pageant from Java island to Bali amid
protests by hard-line Muslims.
(SSFC, 9/8/13, p.A3)
2013 Sep 12, The Netherlands
sought to "close a difficult chapter" with its former colony
Indonesia by publicly apologising for mass killings carried out by
the Dutch army in the 1940s war of independence.
(AFP, 9/12/13)
2013 Sep 27, At least 22
people, mostly children, drowned and scores were missing after an
Australia-bound boat, carrying asylum-seekers from Lebanon, Pakistan
and Iraq, sank off Indonesia in rough seas.
(AFP, 9/27/13)(SFC, 9/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Sep 28, Miss Philippines,
Megan Young 23), was crowned Miss World 2013 in a glittering finale
on the Indonesian resort island of Bali amid tight security
following weeks of hardline Muslim protests.
(AFP, 9/28/13)
2013 Oct 2, Indonesia’s
anti-corruption commission (KPK) detained Akil Mochtar, the chief
justice of the contitutional court, and seized almost $260,000 in
cash. KPK said the money was a bribe to rig a court ruling over a
disputed district election.
(Econ, 10/12/13, p.52)
2013 Oct 7, The 2-day
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit opened in Bali,
Indonesia. At its end leaders agreed that that the Doha round of
global trade talks were at an impasse and urged trade ministers to
reconvene in December to get negotiations back on track.
(SFC, 10/8/13, p.A4)(SFC, 10/9/13, p.A5)
2013 Oct 17, Indonesian police
shot dead Suardi, a suspected militant, and arrested two others, in
an ongoing clampdown on terrorism. All three were said to be part of
a network led by Abu Uswah, who allegedly taught bomb-making and was
shot dead in a raid in January.
(AFP, 10/18/13)
2013 Oct 22, Greenpeace said
consumer products such as Oreo cookies and Gilette shaving cream
were among an array of products driving the destruction of
Indonesia’s forests. Greenpeace accused Singapore-based Wilmar
Int’l. for destroying forests in Indonesia to produce palm oil.
(SSFC, 10/27/13, p.A3)
2013 Oct 24, Indonesian police
probing the murder of a young woman at a luxury villa stumbled upon
a secret collection of exotic animals, including a cross-breed of a
lion and tiger. The woman (23) had allegedly had her throat slit by
a maintenance worker at the property south of the capital Jakarta
after she refused his sexual advances.
(AFP, 10/30/13)
2013 Oct 31, In Indonesia tens
of thousands of workers went on strike across the country as its
citizens seek a greater share of the spoils from stellar growth.
(AFP, 10/31/13)
2013 Nov 1, In Indonesia tens
of thousands of workers went on strike across the country for a
second straight day, calling for huge salary hikes as Southeast
Asia's top economy enjoys a prolonged boom.
(AFP, 11/1/13)
2013 Nov 3, Hackers claiming
links to international activist group Anonymous (Anonymous Indonesia
and Anonymous Philippines) defaced dozens of websites belonging to
Australian businesses and Philippine government agencies.
(Reuters, 11/3/13)
2013 Nov 3, Indonesia’s Mount
Sinabung volcano erupted for the third time in as many months on the
western island of Sumatra, forcing hundreds of villagers to
evacuate.
(Reuters, 11/4/13)
2013 Nov 9, In Indonesia 13
people died when an Indonesian army helicopter carrying construction
workers to build a military outpost crashed in the jungles of
Borneo.
(AFP, 11/9/13)
2013 Nov 21, Indonesia's
military halted training with Australia as a decision to suspend
cooperation due to spying claims took effect, while angry
demonstrators in Jakarta declared they were "ready for war" with
Canberra.
(AFP, 11/21/13)
2013 Nov 30, In South Africa
dozens of Indonesian fishermen, who spent months stranded in Cape
Town's harbor, sleeping in cramped and suffocating quarters, were
taken ashore to a repatriation center after being stuck at sea on
Taiwanese vessels for years without pay.
(AFP, 12/1/13)
2013 Dec 2, Indonesia's
anti-graft agency questioned the energy minister over a corruption
scandal that has ensnared top oil officials and threatened to
tarnish President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's final year in office.
(Reuters, 12/2/13)
2013 Dec 3, In Indonesia top
trade officials began talks that will either produce an eleventh
hour deal that could boost the global economy by $1 trillion or
possibly spell the end of the World Trade Organization's relevance
as a forum for negotiations.
(AP, 12/3/13)
2013 Dec 5, Australia and
Indonesia announced that they would set up a hotline as part of
efforts to repair relations following media reports last month that
Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials.
(Reuters, 12/5/13)
2013 Dec 7, In, Balia,
Indonesia WTO leaders, ending a 4-day meeting, reached a deal to
boost global trade. It was approved by the 159 member economies for
the first time in nearly two decades, keeping alive the possibility
that a broader agreement to create a level playing field for rich
and poor countries can be reached in the future.
(AP, 12/7/13)
2013 Dec 9, In Indonesia a
crowded commuter train crashed into a fuel tanker on the outskirts
of Jakarta, killing at least 10 people in a huge explosion and
injuring scores.
(Reuters, 12/9/13)
2013 Dec 16, In Indonesia
Canadian activist Jeremy Ball visited jailed independence supporters
in Papua at the end of a six-month bicycle tour to highlight human
rights concerns about the restive eastern region.
(AP, 12/17/13)
2013 Dec 25, Hundreds of
Indonesian Christians held a Christmas service in front of the
presidential palace in Jakarta to protest at the closure of their
churches due to pressure by Muslim hardliners.
(AFP, 12/25/13)
2013 Dec 27, In Indonesia Ambar
Arianto Mulyo (59), a Bali Hyatt hotel security employee, was
strangled to death after he tried to capture a 15-foot python.
(SFC, 12/28/13, p.A2)
2013 Dec 30, In Indonesia
Islamic police in the sharia stronghold of Banda Aceh seized
thousands of firecrackers and cardboard trumpets after the city
administration banned New Year's Eve celebrations for the first
time.
(AFP, 12/31/13)
2013 Dec 31, In Indonesia more
than 19,000 people were displaced by the Mount Sinabung volcano on
Sumatra that has been erupting for months and shot lava into the air
nine times overnight.
(AFP, 12/31/13)
2013 Dec 31, Indonesian police
shot dead six suspected terrorists and arrested another in a New
Year's Eve raid near Jakarta that broke out into an hours-long gun
battle.
(AFP, 12/31/13)
2014 Jan 10, Indonesia's
anti-graft agency arrested a former senior member of President
Yudhoyono's party, in a long-running case that has damaged the
ruling party's popularity ahead of elections.
(Reuters, 1/10/14)
2014 Jan 12, An Indonesian law
banning the export of unprocessed minerals took effect, with the
government aiming to boost local operations and create more jobs and
mining companies warning of losses.
(AP, 1/12/14)
2014 Jan 15, In Indonesia at
least 13 people were killed after torrential rain triggered flash
floods and landslides on northern Sulawesi island. Some 40,000 fled
their homes as water surged through the city of Manado and
surrounding areas.
(AFP, 1/15/14)
2014 Jan 17, Indonesia said
that it would increase naval patrols after territorial violations by
Australia as it tried to turn back asylum seekers. The Australian
government apologised unreservedly to Jakarta after its navy
"inadvertently" violated Indonesian waters during border security
operations.
(Reuters, 1/17/14)(AFP, 1/17/14)
2014 Jan 19, In Indonesia
monsoon rains inundated parts of Jakarta, forcing more than 30,000
people to evacuate.
(Reuters, 1/19/14)
2014 Jan 20, Law Wan-tung (44)
of Hong Kong was arrested on suspicion of abusing her Indonesian
maids as she tried to leave for Thailand. The case sparked
widespread outrage and drawn fresh attention to the risks faced by
the migrant community. Erwiana Sulistyaningsih (23), a maid who said
she had been badly beaten by her employer, was recovering at a
hospital in Sragen, central Java, after flying out from Hong Kong in
early January.
(Reuters, 1/20/14)(SFC, 1/23/14, p.A2)(AP,
4/4/14)
2014 Jan 21, An Indonesian
court sentenced an Islamist militant to 7˝ years in prison for
masterminding a plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta.
(SFC, 1/22/14, p.A2)
2014 Jan 22, In Indonesia
Andrea Waldeck, British woman, was jailed for 14 years but escaped
the death penalty after admitting that she smuggled crystal
methamphetamine into Indonesia from China. she had confessed to
taking the drugs through the airport in Surabaya.
(AFP, 1/22/14)
2014 Jan 28, In Indonesia two
landslides triggered by torrential rain killed at least 19 people
and left 10 others missing on the main island of Java.
(AP, 1/28/14)
2014 Feb 1, Indonesia’s Mount
Sinabung volcano, that has been rumbling for months, unleased a
major eruption killing at least 15 people just a day after
authorities allowed thousands of villagers who had been evacuated to
return to its slopes.
(AP, 2/1/14)(AFP, 2/3/14)
2014 Feb 3, Indonesia’s Mount
Sinabung shot hot ash and rocks high into the air again, halting a
search for any more victims from its Feb 1 eruption.
(AFP, 2/3/14)
2014 Feb 6, In eastern
Indonesia a police officer and a suspected Islamic militant were
killed in gunfire near a mountainous village believed to be a
terrorist hideout. Preliminary investigation indicated that the men
were part of a terrorist group led by Abu Wardah Santoso,
Indonesia's most wanted terror suspect.
(AP, 2/6/14)
2014 Feb 14, In Indonesia a
volcanic eruption on Java sent a 17 km (10 mile) ash cloud into the
air. More than 56,000 people were forced to flee their homes and
four 4 were killed when Mount Kelud erupted.
(Reuters, 2/15/14)
2014 Feb 14, In Indonesia seven
female Japanese divers went missing off the resort island of Bali as
strong winds and heavy rains hit Crystal Bay. Five of the divers
were found alive on Feb 17. On Feb 18 the body of a female diver was
found 18 miles west of the rescued divers.
(AP, 2/15/14)(AP, 2/17/14)(AP, 2/18/14)
2014 Feb 20, Rights groups
criticized an agreement between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia aimed at
giving Indonesian maids more protection in the kingdom, with one
saying "justice is still far away" for them.
(AFP, 2/20/14)
2014 Feb 24, Indonesian
officials said floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains
killed at least 11 people in Papua province.
(SFC, 2/25/14, p.A2)
2014 Mar 1, Japan pledged more
than $200 million in aid to help the Palestinian Authority, as
representatives in Indonesia from 22 nations reiterated their
support of the Palestinians' quest for their own state.
(AP, 3/1/14)
2014 Mar 5, In Indonesia an
explosion at a navy ammunition warehouse killed one man and injured
more than 80 other navy personnel.
(AP, 3/5/14)
2014 Mar 9, Two Indonesian
naval personnel were killed during an inspection aboard a Thai
fishing boat in Indonesian waters. Thailand police soon arrested
three suspects. Four more were arrested in April.
(AP, 4/4/14)
2014 Mar 12, In Indonesia Rusli
Zainal, a former governor of Riau, was found guilty of graft and
sentenced to 14 years in prison. He had issued logging licenses that
resulted in forest destruction.
(Econ, 3/22/14, p.42)
2014 Mar 14, Indonesia reported
that Pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered relevant ministers
and local authorities in peat-rich Riau province to handle forest
fires that have been sending out heavy smoke threatening health and
disrupting flight operations. Officers in the armed forces were said
to be involved in illegal logging and burning.
(AP, 3/14/14)(Econ, 3/22/14, p.42)
2014 Mar 14, Indonesia’s
Mega42wati Sukarnoputri, a former president and head of the
opposition PDI-P, anointed Joko Widodo, Jakarta’s popular mayor, as
her candidate for president.
(Econ, 3/22/14, p.41)
2014 Mar 22, Indonesia police
said they arrested three suspected Islamic extremists last week
after intercepting a bomb shipment intended to attack brothels. The
arrests included Ambo Intang, who was sought for his alleged
involvement in the 2012 killings of two policemen in in the Central
Sulawesi district of Poso.
(AP, 3/22/14)
2014 Apr 7, Film censors in
Indonesia and Malaysia banned the biblical epic "Noah," saying that
the portrayal of the ark-building prophet by Russell Crowe was
against Islamic laws. Depictions of any prophet are shunned in Islam
to avoid worship of a person rather than God.
(AP, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 9, Indonesia held
parliamentary elections. 190 million citizens were eligible to vote.
Exit polls gave the opposition PDI-P 19% of the vote.
(Reuters, 4/9/14)(Econ, 4/5/14, p.33)
2014 Apr 18, Off eastern
Indonesia a boat loaded with people in a Good Friday procession
capsized in high waves, leaving dozens of people missing and at
least 7 dead.
(AP, 4/18/14)
2014 Apr 28, Six environmental
advocates won this year's Goldman Prize. India's Ramesh Agrawal
received the prize for helping villagers fight a large coal mine in
Chhattisgarh state. American lawyer Helen Slottje received the award
for helping communities fight fracking in New York State. Peru's
Ruth Buendia was recognized for helping to prevent construction of
two large dams that would have displaced nearly 10,000 indigenous
people in the Peruvian Amazon. Russian zoologist Suren Gazaryan won
for defending protected areas around Sochi from illegal land
seizures for Olympic construction projects. South Africa's Desmond
D'Sa won for helping to close down one of the country's largest
toxic waste dumps. Indonesian biologist Rudi Putra won for helping
to shutter 26 illegal palm oil plantations that were causing
deforestation in northern Sumatra.
(AP, 4/28/14)
2014 Apr 29, In Indonesia Rudi
Rubiandin, the former head of energy regulator SKKMigas, was
sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a major graft
scandal that reached the top levels of the oil ministry.
(Reuters, 4/29/14)
2014 May 7, An Indonesian
official said a woman who was gang-raped by men accusing her of
having extramarital sex may be caned publicly for violating Islamic
law. The widow (25) said she was raped by eight men on May 1 who
allegedly found her with a married man in her house. The men
reportedly beat the man, doused the two with sewage, and then turned
them over to Islamic police in conservative Aceh province.
(AP, 5/7/14)
2014 May 12, Indonesia said it
has banned the popular video sharing site Vimeo, because it contains
nudity, which officials in the world's most populous Muslim country
consider to be pornographic material.
(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 13, Canada-based
BlackBerry launched a new lower-cost smartphone designed
specifically for Indonesia in an attempt to win back market share
that has plunged in recent years but remains higher than in many
other nations.
(AP, 5/13/14)
2014 May 14, Indonesia’s
anti-corruption agency identified the head of parliament's energy
committee and a company executive as suspects in an ongoing graft
scandal involving energy regulator SKKMigas.
(Reuters, 5/14/14)
2014 May 19, The Philippines
said it has reached an agreement over the weekend with Indonesia on
a sea border dispute after 20 years of negotiations, and hopes to
sign the pact soon.
(AP, 5/19/14)
2014 May 22, In Indonesia Anne
Marie Drozdz (40), a British woman, was found dead in the cultural
tourism district of Ubud, Bali island, and that there were signs her
villa had been broken into. Police on May 24 arrested construction
worker Hambali (32) in Jakarta, where he fled following the robbery
and murder of Drodzd.
(AFP, 5/23/14)(AFP, 5/25/14)
2014 Jun 3, In Indonesia a
building under construction collapsed on the island of Borneo,
killing two workers and burying at least 13 others in Samarinda, the
provincial capital of East Kalimantan.
(AP, 6/3/14)
2014 Jun 18, Indonesian
officials officially shut a massive prostitution complex in Surabaya
amid protests by sex workers, who said their livelihoods were being
destroyed. Tri Rismaharini, the first female mayor of Surabaya, had
pledged to close down all brothels in the city.
(AP, 6/18/14)
2014 Jun 18, An apparently
overloaded boat carrying Indonesian illegal migrants heading home
for Ramadan sank overnight in rough seas off western Malaysia. 27
people were missing and 9 were confirmed dead. Nine people were
missing after a boat carrying 27 Indonesian workers overturned off
Malaysia's west coast in a 2nd similar accident. By the weekend the
confirmed death toll from two boat accidents rose to 16 with dozens
of others still missing.
(AFP, 6/18/14)(AP, 6/19/14)(AFP, 6/22/14)
2014 Jun 24, Indonesia became
the newest country to mandate graphic photo warnings on cigarette
packs, joining more than 40 other nations or territories that have
adopted similar regulations in recent years. Authorities said major
tobacco companies have largely ignored a deadline to put graphic
health warnings on all cigarette packs.
(AP, 6/24/14)(AP, 6/27/14)
2014 Jun 30, In Indonesia an
antigraft court sentenced Akil Mochtar, a former chief
constitutional court justice, to life imprisonment for accepting
bribes to fix results in two local elections.
(SFC, 7/2/14, p.A2)
2014 Jul 9, In Indonesia some
190 million voters headed to the polls in a hotly contested election
for president in Indonesia. Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo and ex-army
general Prabowo Subianto both declared a win after the quick count
results were released. The election commission, which began tallying
the votes, will produce the official results by July 22.
(AP, 7/9/14)(AP, 7/10/14)
2014 Jul 14, An overloaded
fishing boat carrying some 70 illegal Indonesian migrants capsized
off southern Malaysia, killing at least 2 people with 9 left
missing.
(AFP, 7/15/14)
2014 Jul 22, Indonesia
officials said Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo won the country's
presidential election with 53 percent of the vote. Former Gen.
Prabowo Subianto, declared he was withdrawing from the contest
shortly before the final numbers were released by the Election
Commission, saying there was massive fraud during the election, and
that it was unfair and undemocratic.
(AP, 7/22/14)
2014 Jul 25, In Indonesia
Prabowo Subianto, the ex-general who lost the presidential election
to Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, mounted a legal challenge to the
result, alleging widespread electoral fraud and irregularities in
vote counting.
(AFP, 7/25/14)
2014 Aug 12, In Indonesia the
body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack (62), a Chicago-based woman, was found
in a bloodied suitcase on the resort island of Bali. Her daughter,
Heather Mack (19) and boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer (21) were arrested
on Aug 13 and detained as suspects. Schaeffer later confessed to the
murder and Heather Mack acknowledged helping him stuff the body into
the suitcase.
(AP, 8/15/14)(AP, 9/19/14)
2014 Aug 28, Australia and
Indonesia signed a new security agreement to mend a relationship
badly damaged by allegations last year that Australia was listening
to the telephone conversations of Pres. Susilo Bambang.
(AP, 8/28/14)
2014 Sep 13, Indonesia's elite
anti-terrorism squad arrested 7 suspected militants, including 4
Turks believed to be planning to join a jihadist group in eastern
Indonesia with possible links to the Islamic State group. Four of
the suspects were members of China's ethnic Uighur minority
community.
(AP, 9/14/14)(AP, 9/15/14)
2014 Sep 17, Indonesia added
more water-dropping helicopters to fight forest and plantation
wildfires that are spreading haze across the region, limiting
visibility and increasing air pollution.
(AP, 9/17/14)
2014 Sep 24, In Indonesia Anas
Urbaningrum, a former top leader of the ruling Democratic Party, was
sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and money
laundering.
(AP, 9/24/14)
2014 Sep 24, In Indonesia
scientists released some 3,000 tiny wasps in a secure tent-like
habitat to monitor their success in an effort to halt an infestation
of cassava crops by mealybugs. Scientists hoped their number would
multiply to 450,000 prior to release in a month following government
approval.
(SFC, 9/25/14, p.A6)
2014 Sep 26, Indonesian
authorities arrested Hans Peter Naumann (48), a German man, for
allegedly trying to smuggle 239 (8.4 ounce) of cocaine onto
Indonesia's resort island of Bali, some of it hidden inside his
stomach.
(AP, 9/27/14)
2014 Sep 27, In Indonesia
lawmakers in Banda Aceh, a conservative Muslim province, passed a
law that punishes gay sex by public caning and subjects non-Muslims
to strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
(AP, 9/27/14)
2014 Oct 8, In Indonesia
rescuers and fishermen found 8 survivors and 17 bodies after two
days of searching for a motorboat lost since its captain reported an
engine failure on Oct 6 off of Java island. Local reports said it
was carrying 49 people who were to have attended a wedding ceremony.
(AP, 10/8/14)
2014 Oct 9, Indonesia
officially launched a $263 million project to build a giant sea wall
along the coast of its capital, Jakarta, in an attempt to protect
businesses and homes from flooding.
(Reuters, 10/9/14)
2014 Oct 13, US plane giant
Boeing said Indonesian flag carrier Garuda has placed an order for
50 planes worth almost $5 billion.
(AFP, 10/13/14)
2014 Oct 20, Indonesia's Joko
Widodo took over as president of the world's third-largest
democracy. Widodo said that he wanted his nation to be
self-sufficient in food staples sugar, rice and corn within four
years.
(Reuters, 10/20/14)
2014 Oct 21, In Indonesia
Robert Ellis (60), a British man, was found dead with his throat
slashed and dumped in a ditch on the resort island of Bali. His
Indonesian wife admitted to the killing day later.
(AFP, 10/22/14)
2014 Nov 3, Indonesia began
issuing cards to give the poor access to three programs that
included health care, education and cash handouts.
(Econ, 1/10/15, p.54)
2014 Nov 17, Indonesia's
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced a sharp increase in fuel
prices, saying costly government subsidies would be better spent on
infrastructure and development.
(AP, 11/17/14)
2014 Nov 19, Indonesian
authorities said two endangered Sumatran elephants were found dead
this week near a palm oil plantation in the Tebo district of Jambi
province on Sumatra island. Authorities believed they were killed by
poachers.
(AP, 11/20/14)
2014 Nov 21, A magnitude 6.5
earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s North Maluku
province.
(SFC, 11/22/14, p.A2)
2014 Dec 8, In Indonesia at
least 4 people, including 3 high school students, were killed in the
volatile Papua region in clashes between protesters and security
forces. The clash had started the previous night when the youths
reprimanded a soldier who was riding a motorcycle without the
headlights on.
(Reuters, 12/8/14)(AP, 12/9/14)
2014 Dec 13, In central
Indonesia a mudslide set off by torrential rains rushed down hills
into a village and swept away scores of homes. At least 56 people
were killed and 52 others missing.
(AP, 12/13/14)(SFC, 12/13/14, p.A2)(AP, 12/15/14)
2014 Dec 19, In eastern
Indonesia the Mount Gamalama volcano on Ternate island in North
Maluku province erupted, spewing towering clouds of hot ash into the
air and leaving four hikers injured and one missing when they
scrambled to safety.
(AP, 12/19/14)
2014 Dec 22, An Indonesian
court sentenced five janitors to up to eight years in prison over
the rape of a kindergartner boy (6) at an international school in
Jakarta. A sixth suspect committed suicide while in custody after
drinking bathroom cleanser.
(AP, 12/22/14)
2014 Dec 28, Indonesia AirAsia
Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200 with 162 people on board, went
missing after pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather
during a flight from Surabaya city to Singapore. It was later rfound
that the plane had climbed at excessive speeds to an unusually high
altitude before plunging and disappearing.
(AP, 12/28/14)(SFC, 1/21/15, p.A3)
2014 Dec 30, Indonesian
rescuers searching for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 pulled bodies and
wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo. The plane was
carrying 162 people when it disappeared on Dec 28.
(Reuters, 12/30/14)
2014 Elizabeth Pisani authored
“Indonesia Etc: Exploring the Improbable Nation."
(Econ, 6/21/14, p.79)
2014 Indonesia’s population was
about 250 million.
(Econ, 10/18/14, p.44)
2014 According to the World
Bank half of Indonesia’s population lived on less than $2 per day.
(Econ, 8/30/14, p.36)
2015 Jan 1, Heavy seas stopped
divers reaching the possible wreck of an AirAsia Indonesia jet off
Borneo. Nine bodies have so far been recovered from the Airbus
A320-200, which crashed Dec 28 en route to Singapore.
(Reuters, 1/1/15)
2015 Jan 2, Rescue teams
battling monsoon rains recovered 21 more bodies from Indonesia’s
AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed on Dec 28. To date 30 of 162
bodies were recovered.
(AP, 1/2/15)
2015 Jan 3, Search teams
hunting for the wreck of Indonesia’s AirAsia Flight QZ8501 that
crashed with 162 people on board reported four large parts of the
plane on the sea bed.
(Reuters, 1/3/15)
2015 Jan 5, Indonesia’s
transportation ministry announced harsh measures against everyone
who allowed AirAsia Flight 8501 to take off without proper permits,
including the suspension of the airport's operator and officials in
the control tower.
(AP, 1/5/15)
2015 Jan 6, Search teams
scouring the ocean for the wreckage of an AirAsia jet, which went
missing on Dec 28, found two new metal objects. Indonesian officials
believe they may have located the tail and parts of the fuselage of
Flight QZ8501 30 meters below the surface, but have been unable to
properly investigate the debris so far. Two more bodies were
recovered from the sea, bringing the total found so far to 39.
(Reuters, 1/6/15)
2015 Jan 7, Indonesia's search
and rescue agency said the tail of the Dec 28 crashed AirAsia jet
Flight QZ8501 has been found on the sea bed about 30 km (20 miles)
from the plane's last known location. Forty bodies and debris from
the plane have been plucked from the surface of the waters off
Borneo.
(Reuters, 1/7/15)
2015 Jan 11, Indonesian divers
found the crucial black box flight recorders of the AirAsia plane
that crashed in the Java Sea a fortnight ago with 162 people aboard.
The data recorder was retrieved on Jan 12 and the cockpit voice
recorder on Jan 13.
(AFP, 1/11/15)(SFC, 1/13/15, p.A2)
2015 Jan 13, Indonesia's
anti-graft agency named three-star general Budi Gunawan, President
Joko Widodo's sole nomination for police chief, a bribery suspect.
Widodo told reporters a day earlier he had chosen Gunawan on
recommendation from the National Police Commission.
(Reuters, 1/13/15)
2015 Jan 14, A Singapore Navy
ship located the fuselage of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, the
passenger jet that crashed more than two weeks ago off the coast of
Indonesia, raising hopes that more bodies will be found.
(Reuters, 1/14/15)(AP, 1/14/15)
2015 Jan 18, Indonesia defied
pleas and executed six drug offenders. Brazil and the Netherlands
recalled their ambassadors from Jakarta and expressed fury following
the executions of two of their citizens.
(AP, 1/18/15)
2015 Jan 23, Indonesia’s police
arrested Bambang Widjojanto, the deputy head of the top
anti-corruption body, days after it accused a senior police officer
of graft, sparking accusations of police retaliation and demands
that the president defend the agency.
(AP, 1/23/15)
2015 Jan 27, Indonesia’s armed
forces officially halted the search for victims of AirAsia Flight
8501 that crashed Dec 28. Teams had recovered 70 of 162 people
aboard.
(SFC, 1/28/15, p.A2)
2015 Feb 10, A Hong Kong woman
was convicted of assaulting her Indonesian maid, Erwiana
Sulistyaningsih, in a case that sparked outrage for the scale of its
brutality. A judge found Law Wan-tung guilty of 18 charges including
grievous bodily harm.
(AP, 2/10/15)
2020 Bill Hayden former
governor-general of Australia proclaimed that Indonesia will be one
of the great powers by this time.
(SFC, 4/26/96, p.A-12)
