BEM UI to Demonstrate at Polri Headquarters, Demand Structural Police Reforms Following Tual Incident

Jakarta, Kompas.com – The Student Executive Board of the University of Indonesia (BEM UI) will hold a demonstration in front of Polri headquarters in Jakarta on Friday, 27 February 2026.

BEM UI member Hafidz Hernanda stated that the action is in response to the death of AT, a student in Tual, Maluku, who was beaten by Mobile Brigade member Bripda Mesias Siahaya.

Hafidz revealed that the demonstration will voice five main demands.

“Demanding the imposition of the heaviest possible criminal sentence against the police officer who killed AT and all repressive law enforcement personnel,” Hafidz told journalists on Friday.

The third demand calls for the release of all political detainees deemed to have been prosecuted unjustly. Fourth, the protesters demand enforcement of authority limitations and the withdrawal of Polri members from civil positions.

Fifth, the demonstrators are demanding concrete results from comprehensive police reforms—structural, cultural, and instrumental—through an accelerated Police Reform Commission.

As previously reported, in the case of AT’s death, Mobile Brigade member of the Maluku Regional Police, Bripda Mesias Siahaya, has been dismissed without honour through an ethics hearing and is now a criminal suspect under investigation.

The head of Polri’s Public Relations Division, Inspector General Johnny Eddizon Isir, stated that Mesias is charged under Article 76C read together with Article 80 Paragraph 3 of Law Number 35 of 2014 regarding amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002 on Child Protection and/or Article 466 Paragraph 3 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code.

“The charges are Article 76C read together with Article 80 Paragraph 3 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 35 of 2014 regarding amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002 on Child Protection and/or Article 466 Paragraph 3 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, with a maximum criminal penalty of 15 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 3 billion rupiah,” Johnny said at a press conference at the Polri Public Relations Division building in Jakarta on Wednesday, 25 February 2026.

Mesias faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 3 billion rupiah if found guilty in court.