Blocking of Botok's Account a Form of Administrative Silencing

Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, has strongly condemned the blocking of a Bank Mandiri account belonging to Supriyono, also known as Botok, coordinator of the Pati United Community Alliance. Usman considers the move a violation of human rights and an attempt at administrative silencing of peaceful civic action.

“The Botok case shows that the state violates human rights by blocking financial resources for peaceful action. It is clearly unlawful if carried out unilaterally by Bank Mandiri without meeting legal requirements, including a court ruling,” Usman said in a statement on Tuesday (25/8).

Usman rejected the argument that the action was merely a transaction delay. According to him, the status on the digital banking application clearly shows the account is “blocked”. He stressed that cutting off access to publicly donated funds collected transparently constitutes collective intimidation that damages the image of national banking, particularly state-owned banks.

Supriyono’s account reportedly contained around Rp80.9 million, a combination of personal funds and public donations for the operational costs of a demonstration in front of the DPR building on Friday (21/8). As a result of the blocking, residents from Pati lost access to funds for logistics such as food, transport and accommodation.

Bank Mandiri, through its official social media account, has apologised and stated that the blocking was carried out at the request of law enforcement in accordance with applicable procedures. However, the bank did not specify which agency submitted the request.

Meanwhile, Polda Metro Jaya confirmed that it had submitted a request for a transaction delay, not a block, for five working days from 21 August to 28 August 2026. Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, explained that the measure was taken based on Article 26 of Law Number 8 of 2010 for the purpose of investigation.

Budi added that the transaction delay would be lifted if no criminal elements were found. Police are currently investigating the possibility of illegal fund flows, such as from online gambling or drugs, aimed at disrupting security stability in Jakarta.