BEM UI Organises Protest Demanding Police Reform at National Police Headquarters Today

Approximately 500 students affiliated with the University of Indonesia’s Student Executive Board (BEM UI) are staging a protest at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta this afternoon, Friday, 27 February 2026, to demand police reform.

Students began gathering at the FISIP campus field from 1 pm, wearing their university jackets and carrying placards with messages including “Indonesia is Dark,” “Apparatus is Corrupt,” “Police are Bullies,” and “Police Reform.”

Ten buses and one pickup truck with loudspeakers, decorated with red and white banners reading “Voice of the People,” are parked at the FISIP field. BEM UI Chairperson Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan stated that the protest stems from public and student concern about police conditions that he believes have never improved. “This is evidenced by numerous human tragedies caused by police. That is why we are here to voice that police reform is something that must be done now,” he said.

Imawan claimed the demonstration would involve 500 UI students using 10 buses plus two public vans, and that coordination has been undertaken with other universities. “Some universities have also confirmed they will participate. We cannot release further details now,” he added.

At National Police Headquarters, the students will present several demands, with police reform as the central and primary agenda. “This is an agenda that can no longer be postponed and is not merely rhetoric—it must be implemented immediately with full transparency,” Imawan stated.

Today’s protest was triggered by an assault by Mobile Brigade officer Second Brigadier Mesias Siahaya against a 14-year-old Islamic secondary school student identified as Arianto Tawakal, who died from injuries sustained on 19 February 2026 in Tual, Maluku. The officer struck the student’s head with a riot helmet, causing him to lose control of his motorcycle and crash fatally. Siahaya has since been dismissed from the police force.