Law

Insurrectionary anarchists, with international connections, nihilist values and a penchant for arson, are moving to fill the vacuum on the left

How can you be a straight cop when people just give you money?

Lia Kent’s study of East Timor’s attempts at transitional justice is an important contribution  

Outsiders see arak consumption as a highly dangerous activity, but arak plays an important role in Balinese society

Stories from Papua’s political prisoners show life at the edge of freedom

Theatre therapy in a narcotics gaol is helping inmates survive

Nikki Edwards

An examination of prisons and detention centres shows that Indonesia still has a long way to go in protecting human rights

The international media has long carried stories about the imprisonment of Schapelle Corby in Bali and of the Indonesian children convicted of people smuggling and held in Australian gaols. But until the recent riot in Tanjung Gusta prison, where inmates were being held in facilities stretched to almost double capacity, the stories of the thousands of Indonesians who are locally imprisoned failed to make the headlines. This edition of Inside Indonesia begins to investigate these people’s stories. The articles delve into the depths of Indonesia’s gaols, seeking to understand who is incarcerated, under what conditions, and why.

Prison can be a place of radicalisation or rehabilitation

Wealthy detainees pay to do their time in comfort

A disintegrating justice system is causing rampant prison overcrowding

In West Papua province’s Raja Ampat islands, a local fisheries conservation initiative is setting a global standard

Indonesia’s parliament is cracking down on sorcery

A public donation campaign shames the national legislature into supporting Indonesia’s premier anti-corruption agency

Dan Lev explains how an outsider became a national hero

There are signs that Indonesia may move towards abolition of the death penalty

Many Indonesian women face great difficulties in accessing safe terminations of unwanted pregnancies

Campaigns against smoking are finally gaining ground, but the tobacco lobby is fighting back

In Jakarta’s crowded neighbourhoods, beliefs in supernatural power and invulnerability still surround the figure of the jago tough man

Jeffrey Winters’ Oligarchy is an epic work of comparative political insight but has little that is new to add to the study of Indonesia’s politics

Social media campaigns highlight the need for criminal law reform in Indonesia