Central Jakarta Police Take Issue with BEM UI, Demo Without Prior Official Notification

The Central Jakarta Metro Police (Polrestro Jakpus) have taken issue with a demonstration staged by the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board (BEM UI) along with several other campus elements in the Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout area on Friday (12/6/2026). This was because the demonstration was not preceded by the official submission of a formal notification letter. “On Thursday, 11 June 2026, at around 2.56 a.m. Western Indonesia Time, we received initial information in the form of a PDF notification letter for the action from a UI student. However, when further communication was attempted on Friday morning, the message received no response,” said Central Jakarta Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Reynold EP Hutagalung, in Jakarta on Sunday (14/6/2026). Reynold acknowledged receiving the initial information regarding the planned action via a WhatsApp message containing a PDF document of the notification letter. He explained that in accordance with the provisions in Article 10 of Law Number 9 of 1998 concerning Freedom to Express Opinions in Public, notification of a demonstration must be delivered directly by the person in charge of the activity to the police. Reynold stated that the notification letter must be received by the local Indonesian National Police no later than 3x24 hours before the activity commences. “Regulation stipulates that the person responsible for the action is obliged to deliver the notification letter directly to the police. Up until the action took place, we had received no official notification letter,” he said.