Another Indonesian year of life-threatening – Indonesia Expat
As COVID-19 dominated the news in 2021, hundreds of Indonesians have been killed by landslides, floods and accidents throughout the year.
Meanwhile, corruption and environmental problems have multiplied. In the big book of good news, Indonesia won an Olympic gold medal.
January 7 – Abu Bakar Baasyir, 82, the spiritual leader of the terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah, is released from prison after his 15-year sentence for funding a terrorist training camp was reduced by more than four years.
January 8 – Indonesian Ulema Association declares Sinovac vaccine halal, following earlier claims that foreign vaccines are haram.
January 9 – Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashes in the Java Sea after departing from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for Pontianak in West Kalimantan, killing all 62 passengers and crew. The airline blames the bad weather, despite reports of poor maintenance.
A landslide kills 40 people in Sumedang, West Java. Officials blame the geology, rather than the erosion caused by deforestation and real estate developments.
January 11 – Four miners killed by landslide in a gold mine in South Solok, West Sumatra.
January 12 – Flooding in South Kalimantan kills at least 15 people.
January 13 – President Joko Widodo receives an injection of Sinovac, Indonesia’s first COVID-19 vaccine.
January 15 – A magnitude 6.2 earthquake in Majene, West Sulawesi, kills 105.
January 21 – American tourist Kristen Gray is deported from Indonesia after touting Bali as cheap and gay-friendly.
January 25 – At least 10 people are killed in a collapsed coal mine in Tanah Bumbu, South Kalimantan.
February 6 – A Sumatran tiger is shot dead after a landslide allowed it to escape from a zoo in West Kalimantan.
February 8 – Corrupt prosecutor Pinangki Sirna Malasari sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes. The Jakarta High Court subsequently reduced his sentence to four years.
February 9 – Five people are killed by flooding in Subang, West Java.
February 15 – Nineteen people are killed in a landslide in Nganjuk, east Java.
February 24 – Five female students killed in a landslide at an Islamic boarding school in Pamekasan, East Java.
Six people killed in a landslide in an illegal gold mine in Parigi Moutong, central Sulawesi.
February 25 – A drunken policeman shoots three people, including an army officer, while discussing his bill at a shady bar in Cengkareng, west Jakarta. National police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo then banned the police from going to nightclubs.
February 27 – South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah arrested for alleged corruption. Facing six years in prison, he later accuses his subordinates.
March 5 – Former military leader Moeldoko takes control of ex-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party to further strengthen the ruling government coalition. The Law Department later canceled the takeover.
March 10 – A bus crash in Subang, West Java, kills 27.
Two police generals are sentenced to 4.5 and 3.5 years in prison for accepting bribes from corrupt tycoon Djoko Tjandra.
March 15 – Veteran politician Amien Rais warns the government is considering increasing the presidential term limit from two to three terms.
March 28 – Suicide bombers kill themselves in a cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
March 31 – A woman wielding a gun is shot dead at the National Police Headquarters.
April 3 – Seventeen sailors die when two ships collide off Indramayu, West Java.
April 4 – Cyclone Seroja hits eastern Nusa Tenggara, killing 181 people.
April 8 – The United Nations accuses Indonesia of human rights violations in the development of a motorcycle racing circuit in Mandalika, Lombok.
April 10 – Nine people are killed in a 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Malang, east Java.
April 21 – Navy Submarine KRI Nanggala sank off Bali, killing all 53 crew members. The submarine captain had previously complained about poor maintenance.
April 29 – Indonesia classifies Papuan separatists as terrorists.
May 7 – The Supreme Court repeals a ministerial decree that prohibited schools from requiring students to wear religious clothing.
May 10 – Eight people killed by landslide at illegal gold mine in South Solok, West Sumatra.
May 17 – Indonesia temporarily suspends use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns about side effects.
May 22 – Eight people drown when a ferry sank off Sumatra’s Jambi province.
May 26 – A truck crash in Malang, east Java, kills eight.
May 27 – Rizieq Shihab is sentenced to eight months in prison for violating COVID-19 health protocols.
June 9, 2021 – Deputy Regent of the Sangihe Islands, Helmud Hontong, 58, dies on a flight from Denpasar to Makassar after bleeding from his mouth. Environmentalists believe he was poisoned because of his staunch opposition to a planned gold mine in the area. Police insist he died of an illness.
June 17 – Bank Indonesia bans the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment tool.
June 24 – Rizieq Shihab sentenced to four years in prison for lying about his positive COVID-19 test.
June 28 – A passenger boat sinks off Bali, drowning 27 people.
July 1 – President Joko Widodo orders a two-week lockdown in Java and Bali amid rising COVID-19 cases and oxygen shortages.
July 14 – Indonesia tops the global list for the most new cases of COVID-19.
July 15 – At least 21 fishermen drown in a storm off Pontianak in West Kalimantan.
Former Minister of Maritime Affairs and member of the Gerindra party, Edhy Prabowo, is being sentenced to five years in prison for accepting bribes.
August 2 – Indonesia wins gold in badminton at the Tokyo Olympics.
Aug 10 – Indonesian immigration officials assault a Nigerian diplomat, prompting a complaint from Nigeria.
August 21 – The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban prompts Indonesia to move its diplomatic mission from Kabul to Islamabad in Pakistan.
August 23 – Former Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara receives 12 years in prison for embezzling COVID-19 aid.
August 24 – YouTuber Muhammad Kace arrested for posting material deemed insulting to the Muslim prophet, Muhammad.
September 8 – A fire in an overcrowded Tangerang prison kills 49 inmates.
September 17 – Jakarta Central District Court sentences President Joko Widodo, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and other officials for failing to tackle air pollution.
September 18 – Terrorist leader Ali Kalora of the Mujahedin in East Indonesia was shot dead in central Sulawesi.
September 24 – Deputy Speaker of Parliament Azis Syamsuddin arrested for alleged corruption.
September 30 – The KPK fires 57 of its employees, including leading anti-corruption activists, for failing a nationalism test, which critics say was part of an effort to weaken the KPK.
October 4 – Six people killed in intertribal clash in Yahukimo Regency, Papua.
October 8 – The World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions Indonesia for non-compliance. The Indonesian flag cannot be hoisted during medal ceremonies and Indonesia cannot host international sports competitions.
October 15 – Eleven students drown while cleaning a river in Ciamis, West Java.
October 17 – Indonesia wins the Thomas Cup 2020 in men’s badminton but cannot hoist the national flag.
October 21 – Greenpeace reports that 20 percent of Indonesia’s oil palm is grown illegally in protected forests.
October 26 – Jakarta’s long-delayed tram line suffers a setback when two trains crash near Cibubur.
November, 1st – Tempo The magazine reports that two companies affiliated with senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan are involved in the COVID-19 testing, prompting the minister to deny having personally benefited from the tests.
November 4 – Nine people are killed by a flood in Batu, east Java.
November 25 – The Constitutional Court declares the government’s omnibus law on job creation unconstitutional.
November 28 – Indonesia reports a single new death and 264 new cases of COVID-19, while the national death toll from the pandemic reaches 143,808. This represents around 215 deaths per day since the start of the pandemic – so that the usual death rate is around 4,700 deaths per day, mainly from smoking, unhealthy diet and pollution. The government is reimposing entry bans from some countries in hopes of preventing the arrival of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
Also read the main Indonesian news of 2020