Police detained 157 people in Yogyakarta following clashes that erupted near the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
The anti-government demonstrations, organized by student and activist groups on National Heroes’ Day to protest corruption, environmental damage, and the rising cost of living, initially concluded peacefully at approximately 6 p.m., according to the Jakarta Globe.
Unrest broke out later that evening near the legislative council building on Malioboro Street as crowds threw rocks and firebombs, prompting security forces to deploy water cannons, rubber bullets, and tear gas, Human Rights Watch reported.
Detentions and Minor Involvement
Among the 157 individuals detained by the Jakarta Globe figures, 21 were minors under the age of 18. Yogyakarta Police Criminal Investigation Director Chief Commissioner Yani Permana said that officers coordinated with the Indonesian Child Protection Commission to arrange the release of the minors into parental custody under special child protection procedures.
Police reported recovering Molotov cocktails, slingshots, firecrackers, gasoline, and bladed weapons during the operation. Investigators subsequently named two civilians as suspects for allegedly carrying and throwing Molotov materials near the Gadjah Mada University roundabout, according to Website Resmi Polri.
Inspector General Langgeng Purnomo, who serves as the Yogyakarta Regional Police Chief, revealed that both suspects were captured in the course of the disturbances that lasted from Tuesday night until the early hours of Wednesday morning. Yogyakarta Regional Police Regional Supervisory Inspector Senior Superintendent I Gusti Ngurah Rai Mahaputra said that initial questioning was conducted on 26 people, with the 24 individuals found not carrying Molotov cocktails marked for release.
The Yogyakarta Police Narcotics Investigation Directorate reported that every urine drug test administered to the detainees returned a negative result. Chief Commissioner Yani said that police have not established whether those responsible for the violence were part of the original demonstration, and denied allegations that police had detained anyone inside university campuses, stating all arrests took place outside campus grounds.
Legal Aid Institute Reports Detainments and Alleged Assaults
The Legal Aid Institute in Yogyakarta reported receiving 64 complaints from demonstrators as of Wednesday morning, noting that 47 people had been detained, 13 remained unreachable, and two were hospitalized. Human rights advocates urged an independent investigation into alleged excessive force, pointing to incidents where protesters and medical volunteers were reportedly assaulted.
Calling upon National Police Chief General Suyudi Ario Seto, Amnesty International Indonesia demanded a probe into suspected police misconduct, an end to arbitrary detentions, and guaranteed access for detainees to family members, legal counsel, and medical treatment. Usman Hamid, the executive director of Amnesty, said that the clashes—which erupted after a peaceful event commemorating National Heroes’ Day—sparked worries regarding the utilization of military personnel alongside reported security sweeps on university property.
Usman also warned of a possible pattern in which unidentified groups provoked violence at night, undermining peaceful demonstrations held earlier in the day, adding that the problem is often excessive security measures and restrictions rather than whether demonstrators acted violently.
Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, called on Indonesian authorities to impartially investigate alleged excessive force against largely peaceful protesters in Yogyakarta. According to observations by Human Rights Watch, law enforcement deployed rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons to disperse the crowds, resulting in numerous injuries and the apprehension of over 150 individuals, among them minors.
A witness told Human Rights Watch she saw security forces in uniform and civilian clothes assaulting at least 40 people then arresting them, describing an instance where a person was kicked and stomped on repeatedly.
A Papuan student was struck in the face by a tear-gas canister while riding a motorcycle through the area around Tugu Yogyakarta, the city’s main landmark. Human Rights Watch also raised serious concerns over the deployment of military personnel with columns of troops and armored vehicles taking over crowd-control responsibilities that ordinarily fall to the police.
Concurrently, local authorities addressed events near the Gadjah Mada University campus, where police forces pushed back demonstrators overnight. Sleman District Police denied sweeping campus grounds and firing tear gas at Gadjah Mada University during the protest that ended in chaos overnight into early Wednesday, claiming they honored campus areas.
The police detected assaults on two people passing through the Gadjah Mada Roundabout, born in 1991 and 1983, who were evacuated to the hospital and are now in better condition. Authorities factored in the local hospital, shopping center, and traffic junction that required clearance and security in the vicinity.
Gadjah Mada University Rector Ova Emilia and Vice-Rector Wening Udasmoro condemned violence within the educational environment, and “Both inside and outside of UGM, when violence occurs, we reject it. We teach people not to commit violence in this institution,” Vice-Rector Wening Udasmoro said.
