Jakarta – Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) General Chairperson Muhamad Isnur has criticised law enforcement agencies over the demonstrations last August.
Isnur reflected on the recent wave of demonstrations from August 25 to 31 which ended in chaos and resulted in 10 deaths. According to Isnur, to this day law enforcement agencies have been unable to reveal the actors behind the riots.
"Last August, chaos occurred, riots occurred, arson occurred, destruction occurred. We saw how the law failed to reveal who the actors were or who the real perpetrators were", said Isnur at an evaluation of the first year of the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka on the Aktual Forum YouTube channel on Saturday October 25.
Yet, he said, the media has revealed that the riots during the wave of demonstrations involved military personnel. However, until now this fact has never been investigated. Law enforcement officers or the police, continued Isnur, instead arrested activists who were accused of being rioters and instigators.
"But now what's the news? How come it's not being revealed? In fact, now the people arrested are activists, accused of being instigators. So we see how the law is used to hide or provide masks for criminals, and we suspect that state actors are at play there", he said.
According to Isnur, the steps taken by law enforcement officials have been simply to scapegoat activists. Yet it is they who have continuously been talking about freedom of expression, human rights and even legal assistance.
"Now we, the situation this year, conclude, our civil society friends before used to worry about a Prabowo administration being elected, that's how it is now, [the concerns have been] proven [to be true]", he said.
"The predictions of civil society, the predictions of institutions working on human rights, legal issues, their prediction have been proven, the Prabowo administration is not orderly, it is not good", added Isnur.
As many as 10 people died during a series of demonstrations in the last week of August 2025. Based on information provided by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), several of the victims are believed to have died due to violence and torture by the authorities.
The death toll was spread across many regions including Affan Kurniawan in Jakarta and Sarina Wati, Saiful Akbar, Muhammad Akbar Basri and Rusdamdiansyah in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Then Sumari in Solo, Central Java, Rheza Sendy Pratama in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Andika Lutfi Falah in Jakarta, Iko Juliant Junior in Semarang, East Java, and Septinus Sesa in Manokwari, Papua.
Meanwhile, the National Police Headquarters has recorded that 959 people had been named as suspects following the August demonstrations. Of the total number of suspects, 664 are adults and 295 are children, which conflicts with the law. (thr/back)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "YLBHI Kritik Penegakan Hukum terkait Aksi Demo Agustus".]
