Surabaya – An activist from the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, Muhammad Fakhrurrozi, known to his friends as Paul, has been arrested by the authorities and is currently being detained at the East Java Regional Police (Polda Jatim) in Surabaya.
Surabaya Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) Director Habibus Shalihin has confirmed that Fakhrurrozi being held by the East Java Regional Police. He stated that the arrest was carried out late on Saturday afternoon September 27.
"This evening we went to the Polda Jatim. It turned out to be true that Paul was taken to the Polda Jatim. At around 10.10 pm. We were only able to meet him, because we only arrived from Jogja last night", Shalihin said when sought for confirmation by CNN Indonesia on Sunday September 28.
Currently, Shalihin and several other advocates are assisting Fakhrurrozi at the East Java Regional Police. According to provisional information, his client was arrested based on a Model A Police Report (LP).
A Model A LP is a report made by a member of the National Police (Polri) when they find, know about or directly experiences an event that is an alleged criminal offense, without having to wait for a report from a member of the public.
Shalihin said that Fakhrurrozi's arrest is said to be related to his alleged involvement in a demonstration in Kediri, East Java, on August 30.
"Paul was arrested for allegedly being involved in an action (demonstration) in Kediri, and it turns out he was reported through a Model A report, dated September 1, 2025", Shalihin said.
Fakhrurrozi is accused of violating a number of articles relating to alleged incitement, destruction and fires that are considered to have endangered the public.
"There are allegations that he was involved in alleged criminal offenses under Article 160 of the KUHP [Criminal Code] in conjunction with Article 187 of the KUHP and Article 170 of the KUHP in conjunction with Article 55 of the KUHP", he explained.
Shalihin however believes that the arrest was not made in accordance with legal procedures. He asserted that Fakhrurrozi never received a prior summons as regulated under the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).
"First, in an arrest there must be two pieces of evidence and according to the KUHAP under Article 17 they [the police] must show an arrest warrant. However it turns out that our client did not know exactly what his status was and where he was allegedly involved", said Shalihin.
LBH Surabaya believes that declaring Fakhrurrozi a suspect violated regulations, especially the 2014 Constitutional Court (MK) ruling which stipulates that the determination of the suspect must be based on a minimum of two pieces of evidence and after being summoned as a witness for questioning.
"Meaning he should first have been questioned, summoned as a witness, then if indeed there is an alleged suspect, so then an SP2HP2 [Professionalism and Security Affairs Division Investigation Progress Notification] should be issued, a letter of commencement of an order for investigation and so on. This is the problem now that his status is as a suspect", said Shalihin.
According to Shalihin, the move by the state apparatus to declare Fakhrurrozi a suspect and arrest him without a prior summons for questioning was a violation of the KUHAP. "So the arrest and his being declared a suspect actually violated the rules mentioned earlier", said Shalihin.
CNN Indonesia has tried to confirm Fakhrurrozi's arrest with the head of the East Java Police Public Relations Division, Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abast, but as of this report being published Abast has not provided a response. (frd/gil)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aktivis Jogja Paul Dikabarkan Ditangkap Polisi".]
