Delpedro Questions Why Affan Kurniawan Case Remains Unadjudicated
Delpedro Marhaen, director of the Lokataru Foundation, has demanded that legal proceedings be pursued against a police officer responsible for the death of online motorcycle taxi driver Affan Kurniawan, who was crushed by a Brimob tactical vehicle during August demonstrations last year.
Delpedro stressed that there must be no discriminatory treatment in law enforcement proceedings. He highlighted that the police officer who killed Affan has yet to face prosecution, whilst hundreds of young people linked to the August riots are currently facing trial.
“We have just heard the latest statement from the National Police Headquarters saying that the person responsible for Affan Kurniawan’s death, and his superior, have yet to be tried. Meanwhile, demonstrators across Indonesia have almost all been tried, and today we hear sentences of two years’ imprisonment being sought,” Delpedro stated at Jakarta Central District Court on Friday (27 February).
Affan died after being crushed by a Brimob tactical vehicle at Bendungan Hilir in Central Jakarta on 28 August 2025. Brigadier Chief Rohmat was driving the tactical vehicle, whilst Commissioner Kosmas Kaju Gae was seated beside him.
The Police Code of Ethics Committee (KKEP) has imposed dismissal sanctions on Kosmas and a seven-year demotion on Rohmat. The KKEP also tried five other police officers who were sitting in the rear of the tactical vehicle, finding them in violation of Article 5, paragraph (1), letter c of Police Regulation Number 7 of 2022 on Code of Professional Ethics and the Police Code of Ethics Commission.
Prosecutor’s Demands
Delpedro contended that the prosecutor’s two-year prison sentence does not reflect the legal facts revealed during the trial. He stated that child witnesses and witnesses from the demonstration side testified that they did not feel incited by social media content created by him and his colleagues.
Moreover, Delpedro noted, expert witnesses presented stated that the August riots could not be attributed to a single factor alone.
“We therefore believe that the prosecution’s demand does not mirror the trial proceedings and obscures the main facts of the trial, obscuring the primary purpose of investigating the August riots,” he said.
Despite his disappointment, Delpedro affirmed that the two-year prison demand does not intimidate or frighten him.
“Of course, the two-year sentence does not frighten us. This becomes a test for the judges, a test for the public, and also a test for our legal system—how capable it is of correcting the prosecution’s flawed reasoning. That is where we await the judges’ role,” he stressed.
Previously, prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence for Delpedro Marhaen from the Jakarta Central District Court panel.
Similar demands were made by prosecutors for three other defendants: Lokataru Foundation staff and Instagram account manager for Blok Politik Pelajar Muzaffar Salim, @gejayanmemanggil administrator Syahdan Husein, and Riau University student and administrator of Aliansi Mahasiswa Menggugat Khariq Anhar.
According to prosecutors, the defendants have been proven to have committed electronic incitement regarding the 25-30 August 2025 demonstrations that resulted in rioting, causing damage to public facilities and injury to officials, as charged under Article 246 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP) juncto Article 20, letter c of the KUHP.
“(The panel of judges) impose imprisonment sentences on Defendant I Delpedro Marhaen, Defendant II Muzaffar Salim, Defendant III Syahdan Husein, and Defendant IV Khariq Anhar of two years’ imprisonment, minus time already served,” the prosecutor stated whilst reading the sentencing demand at Jakarta Central District Court on Friday (27 February).
The defendants will present their defence briefs or closing statements at the next hearing scheduled for Monday, 2 March 2026.