Instagram Admin @bekasi_menggugat Sentenced to 7 Months in Prison in August Riot Demo Case
The administrator and owner of the Instagram account @bekasi_menggugat, Wawan Hermawan, has been sentenced to seven months in prison. The judge declared Wawan guilty in the case of alleged manipulation and editing of posts related to a demonstration that led to unrest in August 2025.
“The Defendant Wawan Hermawan above has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal offence,” stated the chief judge Adek Nurhadi at the Central Jakarta District Court (PN Jakpus) on Tuesday (7/4/2026).
“Therefore, imposing a prison sentence on the Defendant of seven months,” added the judge.
The judge stated that the sentence is reduced by the period of detention already served by Wawan. The judge declared Wawan guilty of violating Article 28 paragraph 3 in conjunction with Article 45A paragraph 3 of Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) or Article 160 of the Criminal Code.
Previously, Wawan Hermawan was demanded a one-year prison sentence. The prosecution demand hearing for Wawan was held on Monday (2/3).
“The Defendant Wawan Hermawan has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal offence of inciting people in public orally or in writing to commit a criminal offence or inciting people to resist the public authority with violence, violating Article 256 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code as in the fifth prosecution by the public prosecutor,” stated the prosecutor when reading the indictment.
“Imposing a prison sentence on the Defendant Wawan Hermawan of one year, reduced by the period the Defendant has been in detention, with an order for the Defendant to remain detained,” added the prosecutor.
Background of the Case
Previously, a student named Wawan Hermawan was charged with manipulating content on social media in the form of an anarchic call during last August’s demo. The prosecutor said the manipulation was carried out by Wawan using his Instagram account named @bekasi_menggugat.
“Has intentionally and without right or unlawfully committed manipulation, creation, alteration, deletion, destruction of electronic information and/or electronic documents with the aim that such electronic information and/or electronic documents are considered as if they were authentic data,” said Prosecutor Triyanti Merlyn when reading the indictment at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday (24/11/2025).
The prosecutor said the @bekasi_menggugat account has been controlled by Wawan since 27 March 2025, with 826 followers. The prosecutor said Wawan posted content calling to join a protest action in August on that account.
“That on 21 August 2025, the defendant through the social media Instagram account with username @bekasi_menggugat disseminated several pieces of electronic information in the form of images in feed posts and stories, which essentially invited the general public to carry out a protest action,” stated the prosecutor.
The prosecutor said the @bekasi_menggugat account was tagged by an account named @kepolu1397 on 27 August 2025. The prosecutor said Wawan consciously reposted the tagged post by altering its narrative.
The narrative in the content uploaded by Wawan was titled ‘Said Iqbal Emphasises Anarcho, Students & BEM Should Immediately Join the 28 August Action: This is Purely the Indonesian People’s Movement’. The prosecutor said the upload did not match the original narrative, namely there was no call for students and BEM to join the protest.
“In fact, the actual narrative published by the online media named Redaksikota.com on Tuesday, 26 August 2025, with the title ‘Said Iqbal Emphasises Anarcho, Students & BEM Should Not Join the 28 August Action: This is Purely a Labour Issue!’ which was published on Tuesday, 26 August 2025,” said the prosecutor.
“Never instructed students & BEM to join the protest action, but witness Said Iqbal emphasised that the labour action to be held on 28 August 2025 is purely a labour struggle and not an arena for unrest, and requested other groups such as BEM, students, pupils, or anarchists not to join, let alone hijack the labour action with provocative actions,” added the prosecutor.
The prosecutor said Wawan did not seek permission from Said Iqbal regarding the upload of electronic information in the form of that content. The prosecutor said the reposted content by Wawan caused a viral cascade, indicated by 1,480 likes, 64 comments, 53 reposts, and 133 shares.
“That as a result of the defendant’s upload on the @bekasi_menggugat account containing a call to carry out a demonstration with the title ‘Said Iqbal Emphasises Anarcho, Students & BEM Should Immediately Join the 28 August Action: This is Purely the Indonesian People’s Movement’, it provoked anarcho groups, students, and BEM to join the demonstration activity that ended in unrest, and the impact of the demonstration unrest disrupted many people and damaged several public facilities,” stated the prosecutor.