Surabaya – Three students in Blitar, East Java, were arrested during a visit by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to the area on Wednesday June 18. The three are members of the Blitar Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) branch leadership.
East Java PMII branch coordinator Moh Sholikhul Hadi said the incident occurred when his comrades were about unfurl banners in the direction of Gibran's motor convoy. At that time, the vice president was heading to a restaurant on Jalan Kalimantan in Blitar city.
"Yes, there were three people arrested. That's right, actually they wanted to express their disappointment. As well as express their aspirations to Mas [Brother] Gibran", Hadi said when sought for confirmation by CNN Indonesia.
Some of the messages on the banners read "19 million jobs empty talk?", "No end to the dynasties" and others, referring to an election promises made by Gibran to create 19 million new jobs and concerns about his father former president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's political dynasty.
According to Hadi, the messages and aspirations were about the unrest felt by society recently.
"They want to unfurl the banners. Several banners that had already been prepared by comrades, yes, for when Mas Gibran passed so they could be seen and read like that. The problem, was that one of them (was about the promise of) 19 million jobs and so on", he said.
Hadi said that at that time there were at least around six of his comrades who tried to take part in the action. But three of them were arrested. One of them was the Blitar PMII branch leadership chairperson Thoha Ma'ruf. The posters they brought were also seized.
"They were arrested by the vice president's Paspampres [Presidential Security Detail]. They were taken to a car and secured. The language used was secured. They said the language was secured. Actually that's the same, the same as being arrested", he said.
The three people, said Hadi, were then held for three or four hours in that place before they were finally released. Even though they have been released, they are now experiencing fear and are psychologically depressed.
"But in what way psychologically, so psychologically yes they are clearly disturbed, with the existence of (the arrests) like that", he said.
Providing security
Blitar City District Police deputy chief Police Commissioner Subiyantana confirmed the arrest of the three students. But he referred to the actions as providing security, because the three were allegedly going to force their way through the cordon around Gibran's entourage.
"That at the time there the vice president's (Gibran) entourage wanted to head towards the Bu Mami restaurant when suddenly there were three people who wanted to break through the [security detail's] ranks. So the security detail took them aside so as not to break through into the entourage", Subiyantana told journalists.
He said the three people also brought or unfurled a number of banners. However, the reason for the arrest, he claimed, was because the three students wanted to break through into Gibran's entourage.
"Yes, the information is the student brought posters and wanted to break through the entourage so they were prevented and taken aside", he said.
The arrests, he said, were also in accordance with the security procedures for the vice president who is included in the category of a Very Very Important Person (VVIP). "Yes, if it s a VVIP it has to be sterile, there can be no obstacles, right", he said.
Subiyantana said that after being arrested the three students were returned home and there was no further investigation. "The three of them have now been returned home right, they were just blocked and ordered aside", he concluded. (frd/dal)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Bawa Poster 'Omon-omon' Saat Gibran Datang, 3 Mahasiswa Ditangkap".]
