Local fishermen raised the alarm after losing direct access to the sea. Some speculate that the barrier is part of PIK2, a government-backed residential and commercial project. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Fisheries has blocked access to the area. Some statements blaming fishermen for the fence are not deemed credible.
The proposal put forward by the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency in the process of deradicalising the Islamist formation in South-East Asia. Two leading figures from prison are contributing to the process from their cells, while in a ceremony several thousand former militiamen swore allegiance to the state. Islamic colleges affiliated with the group have also promised to remove extremist content from their curricula.
In the mountains of Indonesian Papua, new military operations against separatists have forced hundreds of people to flee into the forest. Bishop Matopai You has appealed to the authorities to ensure the refugees go home, and is also mobilising parishes to help those who fled.
They are 48-year-old Mohammed Farik Amin and 47-year-old Mohammed Nazir Lep, who spent - without trial - 18 years in the Cuban prison. They will now have to serve five more after the proceedings in which they pleaded guilty and cooperated with justice. They will undergo a rehabilitation programme.
The Filipino migrant sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking arrived in Manila after 14 years in prison. Today she was finally able to see her children. ‘Living behind bars has changed my life, transforming me into a person who has come closer to God’. There have been many requests from the Church and civil society for President Marcos to grant her a pardon, which the Jakarta government will not oppose.
The ministers who announced the coming amnesty cited prison overcrowding, due mainly to strict drug trafficking laws. Potential beneficiaries include political prisoners who criticised the Indonesian government's actions in Papua, a region that has aspired to independence for a long time. The local population remains sceptical of President Prabowo Subianto.
