Islah Bahrawi Denies Incitement Charges After Police Questioning

Islah Bahrawi underwent questioning at Polda Metro Jaya today regarding a report against him for allegedly encouraging the overthrow of President Prabowo Subianto. During the examination, Bahrawi denied the accusations of inciting the toppling of Prabowo’s government.

“Today Cak Islah, Islah Bahrawi, and our legal advisory team came to fulfil an invitation from Polda Metro Jaya in relation to a report filed by several parties, we don’t know who, but Cak Islah is accused of incitement under Article 246 of the Criminal Code,” Bahrawi’s legal counsel, Tegar Putuhena, told journalists on Wednesday (10/6/2026).

Meanwhile, Bahrawi stated that the remarks which led to the police report were criticisms that many parties have been unable to voice. He denied any intent to incite in his statements.

“This is part of our effort to amplify the voices circulating within society. So, there is absolutely no intention to incite anything. We merely want to connect the tongues of those who are afraid,” he said.

Bahrawi insisted there was no intention to build violence through his statements. He claimed his words were purely criticism for the country.

“So, the ultimate goal is that we love this country. We truly love this country. That is why we never stop criticising policies that we believe could harm the people,” he added.

Besides Bahrawi, Saiful Mujani was also named as a reported party in the same complaint. The complainant is Robina Akbar from the East Jakarta Community Alliance. The report is registered under number LP/B/2428/IV/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, dated 8 April 2026.

Polda Metro Jaya Public Relations Head, Senior Commissioner Budi Hermanto, confirmed the existence of the report. He stated that the report had only been received on Wednesday (8/4) evening.

“Yes, that’s correct. It was reported on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, at approximately 21:30 WIB regarding Article 246 of Law Number 1 of 2023,” Budi Hermanto said when asked for confirmation by journalists on Thursday (9/4/2026).

Article 246 of the Criminal Code regulates incitement to oppose public authorities. The article reads:

“Any person who in public, orally or in writing: a. incites people to commit a criminal offence; or b. incites people to resist public authorities with violence, shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of four years or a maximum fine of category V.”