Pebriansyah Ariefana – Police intimidated and assaulted journalists covering a labour rally in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta on the afternoon of Friday August 16. The workers were holding the demonstration to coincide with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s State of the Nation address.

Jakarta – Raids on leftist books discussing communism and the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) have started again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arie Dwi Satrio, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) have slammed the actions of both police as well as demonstrators during the May 22 riots in Jakarta that intimidated and committed violence against journalists on the job.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) is accusing Coordinating Minister for the Economy (Menko) Darmin Nasution of breaking the law by using his authority to restrict public access to data on land use rights (HGU).