Iwan Arifianto, Semarang – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is urging the police to release two activists from Semarang, Adetya Pramandira alias Dera and Fathul Munif, who were arrested by police on Thursday morning November 27.
Pramandira is a Walhi Central Java advocacy and community organising staff member while Munif is an activist with the Kamisan (Thursday) Action movement in Semarang.
According to Walhi, the arrest of the two environmental activists and human rights defenders represent an arbitrary arrest.
"In normative terms, the arrests made by the Semarang Polrestabes [Metropolitan District Police] of the two represent a serious violation of human rights and disregard the principles of the rule of law", said Walhi Legal and Advocacy Manager Teo Reffelsen in a written statement received by Tribun on Thursday evening.
He revealed that the arrests of Pramandira and Munif constitute the gagging of pro-democracy activists, moreover they were accused of baseless charges and were never summoned as witnesses.
The arrests add to the police's poor record of repeatedly arresting activists in response to demonstrations in late August and early September 2025.
"The arrests on charges of incitement during the August 2025 demonstrations continue the baseless law enforcement actions and were not accompanied by legitimate legal procedures", he explained.
Reffelsen believes that the Semarang Police arrest of the two activists constitutes an act of defiance against the order by the national police chief (Kapolri) in Telegram Number ST/2422/X/REN.2/2025 dated October 22, 2025.
The circular clearly states the prohibition of criminalisation and faultfinding, the prohibition of the practice of seeking problems and fabricating cases to implicate certain parties, and the assurance that law enforcement must be based on valid evidence.
The forced arrests of Munif and Pramandira also constitutes criminaliation that has been pushed through demonstrating the police's lack of seriousness in addressing demands for reform within the institution.
"This sets a bad precedent that further reinforces that this regime's continues to use the law repressively against those who speak out critically. Using the law simply to create a chilling effect on civil society and the environmental movement must stop immediately", he explained.
Based on information from the Suara Aksi (Action Voice) Legal Team, which is providing legal aid to the two activists, no criminal offenses have been found against Pramandira and Munif, and no relevant or admissible evidence has been found as of Thursday evening.
Walhi Central Java Director Fahmi Bastian is urging President Prabowo Subianto to use his authority to release and halt the legal proceedings against political prisoners, including Pramandira and Munif.
Second, he is urging the national police chief to personally order the Semarang Metropolitan District Police Chief (Kapolrestabes) to release and halt legal proceedings against Pramandira and Munif.
Third, that the national police chief order all regional police officers throughout Indonesia to stop all forms of criminalisation against activists and to respect and protect them as well as the right to freedom of expression.
"The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), and the Indonesian Ombudsman must actively push for the release and termination of legal proceedings against Adetya Pramandira and Fathul Munif", he said.
Meanwhile, the Semarang Police Criminal Investigation Unit Chief (Kasatreskrim) Assistant Superintendent Andika Dharma Sena has denied that the two activists were arrested arbitrarily.
He claimed that the arrests were carried out in accordance with procedures. "We followed standard operating procedures (SOP) in this process (the arrests and determination of suspects)", he told Tribun.
Sena explained that the two activists were arrested in connection with a demonstration on Friday August 29, 2025. "They distributed inflammatory content", he explained.
He also confirmed that the two have been charged under Article 45A Paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 28 Paragraph 2 of Law Number 1/2004 on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE Law) and Article 160 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).
"Meanwhile on these articles, we're still questioning them", he said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Walhi Desak Polisi Bebaskan Dua Aktivis Semarang yang Ditangkap Sewenang-wenang".]
