Election observers and democracy advocates have agreed that this year’s elections have shown worrying signs of the trajectory of the country’s democracy, with the crumbling credibility and impartiality of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Indonesia has in recent weeks released half a dozen high-profile detainees, including a Filipina mom on death row and the last five members of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug ring.

On Monday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto a graft suspect for allegedly helping former party member Harun Masiku bribe then-General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Wahyu Setiawan for a seat in the House of Representatives. 

Some 15,800 Christian convicts nationwide had their sentences reduced during Christmas, with 116 of them enjoying an early release from prison.

Speaking to reporters in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday, Jokowi said he no longer had the authority to influence the work of law enforcement agencies and called on Hasto to respect the ongoing legal process.

The feud between former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has spilled over into the legal sphere, after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named the party's secretary-general a suspect in a bribery case and banned another senior politician from leaving the country.

Highlighting the PDI-P senior politician’s importance in the ongoing investigation into the 2019 bribery case, the antigraft body has slapped a travel ban on Yasonna Laoly, who was law minister when key suspect and fellow PDI-P member Harun Masiku absconded.

Despite promises for reform, reports of police brutality continue to make headlines this year, raising doubts over law enforcement’s commitment to end a culture of violence that has been haunting their institution for decades.

The entrepreneur has been sentenced to 6.5 years behind bars, a Rp 1 billion fine or another six months in jail and Rp 210 billion in restitution for his role in the high-profile corruption case involving PT RBT and state tin giant PT Timah.

Jailed former leaders of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist group are being considered for parole, a senior counterterror official said Tuesday, after the network disbanded and members pledged allegiance to the country.

The KPK has opened an investigation into the PDI-P secretary-general in connection with Harun Masiku's bribery case, as indicated by a copy of the warrant leaked to the media on Tuesday.

The National Police's counterterrorism unit Densus 88 has announced a plan to repatriate 26 former members of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) from Syria and the Philippines after the terror group's leaders announced its disbandment in June.

President Prabowo Subianto has signed Presidential Regulation No. 202/2024 to establish the National Defense Council (DPN), which will formulate strategic policies covering geostrategy, geopolitics and geoeconomics, as well as the deployment of state defense components.

The President has reportedly bowed out of a meeting with the Malaysian prime minister for health reasons, and it is unknown if the leaders will reschedule their talks before Prabowo's upcoming visit in January 2025.

Simmering tensions between Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appeared to have reached a new height, with her loyalists accusing him of seeking to divide and take over the party.

Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chair Jusuf Kalla inaugurates the leadership board for the humanitarian organization after the Law Ministry announces its recognition of his chairmanship, amid disputes with a Red Cross camp led by fellow Golkar Party politician Agung Laksono.

The party matriarch's call for increased vigilance against external interference comes after the appearance of banners across Jakarta attempting to smear her, including some attacking her legitimacy as PDI-P chair.

The police's newly formed antigraft corps has grilled Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi over his previous role as communications minister in relation to an ongoing illegal gambling probe.

Budi Arie Setiadi and the police gave different accounts of his questioning related to a corruption case on Thursday, without divulging more about the case.

Observers have said that a suggestion from President Prabowo Subianto to pardon graft suspects and convicts as long as they pay the evaded taxes conflicts the prevailing Anticorruption Law.

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Yahya Staquf Cholil is facing calls to step down from the top post of the country’s largest Muslim organization as discontent over his leadership grows.

Following the recent repatriation of foreign convicts, the government is mulling over legislating new rules on prisoner amnesty and transfers as part of a wider aim to ease congestion in the country's overcrowded prisons.

Speaking before hundreds of Indonesian university students in Cairo on Wednesday during his visit to Egypt, Prabowo said he would implement a plan to retrieve ill-gotten gains in the coming weeks or months.

A deputy minister suggested that the country still has time until the next simultaneous regional head elections in 2029, while a lawmaker stressed that now is the best time to look for alternative systems.

A Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) official said that the antigraft body had named at least two individuals suspects in the alleged misuse of the the central bank's social program funding, but declined to disclose their identities.

Chair of the House of Representative’s Commission III overseeing law enforcement Habiburokhman has defended National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo amid growing calls for his removal and widespread reform within the institution as police brutality and extrajudicial killings become rampant.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) urges parties not to rush their decision and calls for a thorough study on whether such a proposal would represent the will of the people.

The recent repatriation of foreign convicts on death row for drug-related cases should serve as the first step for Indonesia to abolish capital punishment entirely, law and human rights activists have said.

The simmering conflict that has defined national-level politics for over a year has come to a head, with the country’s largest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), officially expelling former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his sons.

There was no breakdown of or details about the use of the funds.