The police named Sadikin Aksa, former Bosowa Corporindo CEO, as a suspect in a banking fraud case. It is regarded as a backlash against Bosowa's victory in court.

The National Police' Criminal Investigation Department investigated three officers with the rank of brigadier in the case of extrajudicial killings of members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI). The reconstruction did not explain the fact that all of the victims died with gunshot wounds straight to the heart.

The fatwa (edict) commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declared the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine haram (forbidden by Islamic law) because it used trypsin enzyme from pigs in its viral multiplication process. The fatwa runs counter to the drug monitoring agency (BPOM)’s ruling that the enzyme is already broken up thus no longer present in the vaccine making process. Penny Kusumastuti Lukito, Chair of BPOM, considers the end product to be free of porcine material. Given the limited supply of halal (permissible by Islamic law)-certified vaccine Sinovac, the government has no choice but to turn to other vaccines including AstraZeneca.

Switzerland approved free trade agreement with Indonesia. With the condition, however, that Indonesia produce palm oil in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

Inflation in the US, which might trigger an interest rate hike by the Fed and reduced liquidity injection, is becoming the biggest fear of emerging markets, including Indonesia. Investor’s money which has been anchored here might just return home, in great numbers and fast.

The ministry of health clarifies a sentence on the article Vaccine Opportunist in Tempo English, 22-28 March, 2021 issue.

The government takes fly ash resulting from coal combustion off the list of hazardous and toxic waste. There is concern that this will endanger the environment and ignore any impact on those living around coal power plants.

Cartoon: Yuyun Nurrachman

The ruling, or fatwa, from the Indonesian Ulemas Council  (MUI) that concludes the AstraZeneca vaccine haram—forbidden—should not be a consideration in the Covid-19 vaccination program. Matters of health need medical and scientific considerations, not fatwas.

Revenge, retaliation, and dark characters make us feel something more than just addiction to stories of violence; we feel that we are discovering stories about ‘justice’, and turn them into moral discourse.

The destruction of Malaysian-flag vessels in the Samudera Lampulo Harbor waters, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Thursday, March 18. The Banda Aceh District Prosecutor’s Office destroyed two foreign fishing vessels and their fishing gear after the Banda Aceh District Court found them guilty of conducting illegal fishing. ANTARA/Irwansyah Putra

SOUTHEAST Asia has faced numerous human rights violations and abuses, ranging from the worst crimes against the Rohingya and other religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar to extra-judicial killings in the Philippines under President Duterte’s administration. Many enforced disappearances have also occurred across the region, along with violence against human rights and democracy defenders, attacks on freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and some other incidents. 

It does not mean the region has no institution that addresses human rights issues. Since 2009, member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have had the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights or AICHR. But critics said this body has been ineffective and ‌incapable of protecting human rights in the region. 

To commemorate the International Human Rights Day on December 10, TEMPO TALKS presents Yuyun Wahyuningrum, the representative of Indonesia to AICHR who will explain about human rights problems in the region and how her organization addresses the issue on TEMPO TALKS