Nino Citra Anugrahanto – The mass arrest of protesters in August 2025 is considered to be have been a large-scale operation to silence pro-democracy activists. Security forces were accused of indiscriminate arrests, which instilled fear in young people to speak out critically about deviations in state policy.
Indications of this silencing operation came out in a Fact Finding Commission (KPF)'s investigative report on the August 2025 protests. The report was compiled by three independent institutions, namely the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta).
The report was produced by analysing 115 police investigation files, interviewing 63 informants and compiling thousands of pieces of open source data. Furthermore, the investigative team also traced events in eight provinces, 18 cities and three locations overseas from September 2025 to February 2026.
YLBHI Chairperson Muhammad Isnur presented the TPF's investigative report on the August 2025 riots in Jakarta on Wednesday February 18.
According to the KPF's findings, 6,719 people were arrested during the August 2025 protests. As of February 14, 2026, 706 people were political prisoners still undergoing legal proceedings, 506 people had been found guilty and 348 others had been charged under Article 170 of the Criminal Code (KUHP). Furthermore, 13 activists were accused of inciting the protests.
"This was the largest manhunt for activists since 1998 reformasi [the political reform process following the resignation of former president Suharto]. In fact, we call this a colossal arrest", said Kontras Working Group Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya in presenting the KPF investigation report.
Arya explained that most of those targeted for arrest were young people. According to Arya, this group was targeted to exert pressure on their persistently critical voices. This is because the series of protest actions stemmed from various kinds of public unrest amidst economic pressures.
"This was part of a chilling effect or part of exerting pressure on young people's political activities, so that in the future there will be quite structured discipline, so that young kids, young people, don't engage in actions that disrupt security, stability and the investment climate", said Arya.
Arya also highlighted the escalation of terror that occurred in digital space, as if there is a movement to accuse young people and paint them as scapegoats for the series of protests. A kind of digital operation was undertaken by individuals affiliated with the security forces. Furthermore, some social media account managers who spread protest plans were later accused of provoking the riots.
On the other hand, Arya continued, systematic provocative efforts were also evident to escalate the protests. Based on several video clips, they found figures with physical similarities appearing among the crowd before clashes broke out.
In Kediri, East Java, for example, in the video footage, a group of people suddenly came forward and took command of the movement and urged the crowd not to retreat. The same figures were apparently present at the trial of Lokataru Foundation Director Delpedro Marhaen in Jakarta, who is currently being tried for incitement related to the August protests.
"We found a common thread between these provocative efforts to encourage the protests to escalate [resulting] in more victims and more destruction", Arya said.
Muhammad Isnur observed systematic efforts to escalate the protests through social media networks. The mechanism was carried out through the massive spread of disinformation. The impact was evident in the rapid shift in the issue within a few days, from "Disband the House of Representatives" to "The Police are Killers".
Furthermore, said Isnur, the investigation team uncovered the existence of directed mobs. This movement was orchestrated and had a specific leader, as seen in the looting of the homes of officials such as National Democrat (NasDem) politician Ahmad Syahroni and former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. The looters came from several regions enticed by the promise of looted goods.
"This should have been properly uncovered. However, the government has [instead] embraced the narrative of scapegoating and criminalising pro-democracy activists", said Isnur.
Bivitri Susanti, a constitutional law lecturer at the Jentera Indonesia Law School, stated that the mass arrests of activists and young people was like using a large trawling net. As if people present at the location of protest actions were just arrested and their criminal offenses only considered later. This is evident in the large number of people who were later released.
Susanti said that she deeply regrets such haphazard law enforcement mechanisms. Moreover there was no clear explanation for their arrests. For her, this situation reflects the politicisation of the law that has occurred in recent times. She worries that democratic space is shrinking along with this haphazard law enforcement.
"Just grabbing everyone for no good reason and the result was intimidation. There is fear among many in civil society. Not a few, many friends, and I myself when invited to forums, have expressed this fear. Imagine young Indonesians in 2020 having to ask such questions", said Susanti.
From the events of August 2025, according to Susanti, attempts to abuse the law occurred. Instead of bringing justice, the law was being used to criminalise its people. This situation is relevant given the downward given the trend in democracy in various parts of the world.
As a weapon, Susanti said, the law can silence critical voices. Yet critical voices tend to speak the truth. The existence of these efforts to silencing criticism demonstrates the myriad problems that exist in a country.
"So, I don't think this is the only case comrades. If we don't raise the issue, don't warn people, I'm worried, I'm anxious, and I invite everyone to join in this anxiety. Similar things will continue to happen in the future", said Susanti.
Vito Jordan, a student from the University of Indonesia, was one of those who took to the streets during the August 2025 demonstrations.
He did not deny the contents of the KPF report. As a protester, he also admitted to experiencing intimidation. One example of this was the presence of tactical vehicles from the para-military Mobile Brigade (Brimob) on his campus grounds the day before the protests.
Jordan also admitted his concern about the risk of arrest by the police simply for criticising state policy. Several of his friends had also experienced digital attacks as a result of their critical opinions.
As reported by Kompas.id (December 7, 2025), the government has discussed the fate of more than 1,000 activists, youth and students still detained by the police for their alleged involvement in the demonstrations that led to riots in late August and early September 2025.
The discussions concerned the legal process against them, who would be brought to trial and who should be released immediately.
The police arrested thousands of people in connection with the protests and riots that occurred in late August and early September 2025. According to data from the Commission for the Acceleration of Police Reform, as of December 7, 2025, at least 1,038 people were still detained and undergoing legal proceedings.
Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections (Menko Kumham Imipas) Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that the total of approximately 1,000 people was far smaller than the total number who were initially arrested by police, namely around 7,000 activists, youths and students.
"Most of the charges relate to the ITE Law (the Electronic Information and Transactions Law]. So, they're related to the spread of hoaxes, incitement and so on", Mahendra said while delivering a lecture at the 4th National Conference of the Association of State Administrative Law Lecturers in Labuan Bajo, Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday December 6, 2025.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Unjuk Rasa Agustus 2025 dan Indikasi Operasi Pembungkaman Aktivis".]
Source: https://www.kompas.id/artikel/unjuk-rasa-agustus-2025-dan-indikasi-operasi-pembungkaman-aktivis
