Jakarta – The reduction of Aceh’s status from a state of civil emergency to one of a civil authority must be seized as an opportunity to further increase the involvement of civil society.

Medan – Punishment in the form of public floggings (hukum cambuk) for Muslims who violate Islamic law in Aceh will soon be implemented.

[The following is an abridged translation of a selection of articles from Detik.com which were posted on its web site between March 15-18.

[The following is an abridged translation of a selection of articles from Detik.com which were posted on its web site on March 1 after the Indonesian government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla (SBY-Kalla) announced the decision cut fuel (BBM) subsides.]

Jakarta – The head of the Aceh desk at the ministry of politics, legal and security affairs, Police Inspector General Demak Lubis, says that the operation to restore security in Aceh is going well.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says that the extension of the civil emergency in Aceh is necessary if only to maintain continuity and to provide space for a just and dignified resolution to the Aceh problem.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Coinciding with commemorations of the 59th anniversary of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), hundreds of Yogyakarta students from a number of different groups held actions on Tuesday October 5 calling for soldiers’ wages to be increases and rejecting militarism.

Muhammad Atqa, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from the Bekasi Social Forum (Forum Masyarakat Bekasi, FMB) and the Islamic Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Islam, GPI) are calling for the controversial draft law on the armed forces (RUU TNI) to be enacted immediately.

Jakarta, Kompas – A number of non-government organisations (NGOs) and students from the pro-democracy movement have rejected the planned deliberation of the draft law on the Indonesian National Armed Forces (RUU TNI) by the People’s Representative Assembly (DPR).

Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Semarang – Imitating the actions by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Kiais [Islamic boarding school teachers] in East Java, scores of students from the Walisongo State Institute for Islamic Studies in Semarang issued an “religious edict” rejecting presidential candidates from the military and status quo forces.

Banda Aceh – On Monday May 17, demonstrations calling for the governor of Aceh, Abdullah Puteh, to resign from his post took place in three separate locations in Aceh.

Nur Raihan, Banda Aceh – As may as 1000 students from the Ar-Raniry Darussalam State Institute of Islamic Studies and the Muhammadyah University along with hundreds of residents of Banda Aceh held demonstrations in three locations in the provincial capital on Monday May 17.

Khairul Ikhwan, Medan – Calls for President Megawati Sukarnoputri to sack Indonesian chief of police General Da’i Bachtiar have been raised again. [This time] the demands were made by two groups of demonstrators in an action held at the North Sumatra parliament on Jalan Imam Bonjol in the provincial capital of Medan on Wednesday May 5.

Fredolin Adhysa Pelupessy, Jakarta – On Wednesday May 5, demonstrators from a number of Islamic mass organisations went to the national parliament to demand the dismissal of Indonesian police chief Da’i Bachtiar.

Makassar, Kompas – On Tuesday May 5, massive demonstrations and rallies by thousands of students from almost all schools of higher education in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar brought activities in the city to a stand still for the entire day.

Taufik Wijaya, Palembang – On Tuesday May 4, thousands of students from Palembang in South Sumatra held an action over the attack on the Indonesian Muslim University campus in the South Sumatra provincial capital of Makassar [in which scores of students were wounded by police on May 1].

[The following is a translation of a joint statement issued by the Joint Alliance of Indonesian University Students (Aliansi Bersama Mahasiswa Universitas Indonesia) following the recent clash between police and students at the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) campus in Sulawesi’s provincial capital Makassar.

Istiqomatul Hayati, Jakarta – Thousands of workers came out into the streets to commemorate May Day on Saturday May 1.

Alisa P, Bireun – An Aceh Ulama (Islamic religious leader), Teuku Haji Aldelani, the son-in-law of the most outspoken Ulama in Aceh, T.H. Abu Tuming, has been arrested by the emergency military command (PDMD) for leading a delegation of Aceh Ulamas to meet with the coordinating minister of politics and security in Jakarta a short time ago.

Astrid Felicia Lim, Jakarta – If SBY [recently resigned coordinating minister for politics and security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and presidential candidate for the military backed Democratic Party) becomes president, then responsibility for the military operation in Aceh, the investigation of human rights violations and reform of the military wi