KIKA Condemns Terror Campaign against UGM Student Executive Board Chairman
The Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom (KIKA) has strongly condemned all forms of terror, intimidation, and repeated threats directed at the Chairman of the Student Executive Board of Gadjah Mada University (BEM UGM) in Yogyakarta, Tiyo Ardianto.
KIKA Presidium Chair Rina Mardiana said the organisation is urging law enforcement agencies to immediately conduct a thorough, transparent, and accountable investigation into the perpetrators. Additionally, KIKA is calling on higher education leaders across Indonesia to strengthen protection mechanisms for students and lecturers when they voice academic criticism and public policy concerns.
"We remind public officials of their constitutional obligation to protect, not to allow attacks on, academic freedom," Rina said at a KIKA online press conference on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.
KIKA called on civil society and the media to continue critically monitoring the case. According to Rina, the terror constitutes an attack on academic freedom, freedom of expression, the safety of the academic community, and human rights.
Students had protested the government's free nutritious meals programme (MBG) as a response to government policy deemed detrimental to the public interest.
KIKA Presidium member Herdiansyah Hamzah stated that criticism of public policy is an inseparable part of the university's role as guardian of the nation's critical reasoning. Higher education institutions bear a moral and scholarly responsibility to provide constructive input for the creation of legislation and policies that uphold justice, human rights, and the rule of law.
Every attempt at silencing through threats, digital bullying, hacking, disinformation, or pressure on family members, he said, constitutes an anti-democratic act that damages the ecosystem of academic freedom. "Such attacks demean the role of academics and students as public intellectuals," he said.
Universities, including UGM, must be guaranteed a safe space for dissenting opinions, the testing of ideas, and criticism grounded in data and scholarly ethics. BEM UGM's criticism through public statements sent to international bodies such as UNICEF constitutes a legitimate part of civic participation in democratic governance. Such statements should not be met with terror.
Academically, BEM UGM's critique of the MBG programme underwent national policy analysis, reflecting the functioning of the education system as a vehicle for social change and civilisational advancement. In advocacy studies, social change, dispute resolution, and human rights, this mechanism is scholarly in nature.
Such criticism need not be met with offence, hurt feelings, or fear through threats targeting the personal sphere. Conflating personal matters with terrorising family members is childish and unprofessional.
KIKA assessed the pattern of intimidation targeting Tiyo's family members as dangerous. Such practices create a chilling effect that broadly damages academic freedom, as students and academics may become afraid to express critical views grounded in data and scholarly ethics.
According to Herdiansyah, under national law, academic freedom is guaranteed by Law Number 12 of 2012 on Higher Education. Article 9, paragraph 1, affirms that academic freedom is the freedom of the academic community to explore and develop science and technology responsibly through the implementation of the three pillars of higher education.
Thus, expressions of criticism based on reason and the public interest fall within the corridor of legal protection. Within the framework of international human rights ratified by Indonesia, freedom of expression is protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified through Law Number 12 of 2005, particularly Article 19. The right to education and scholarly development is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified through Law Number 11 of 2005, particularly Article 13.
This protection also extends to academic expression and activities in the digital space. Digital attacks, hacking, and online intimidation against academic expression may be classified as human rights violations in the digital realm.
The principle of academic freedom is also affirmed in the 2017 Surabaya Principles on Academic Freedom, which have been adopted in the Standards, Norms and Regulations on Academic Freedom by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Number 5 of 2021.
KIKA member Masduki emphasised that academics must be free from restrictions and disciplinary measures in developing a responsible and integrity-based academic culture. Public authorities are obligated to respect, protect, and take concrete steps to guarantee academic freedom. Terror and intimidation against students who criticise public policy contravene these standards.
Academic freedom, Masduki said, is a pillar of democracy. Terror against critics of public policy serves as a danger alarm for the rule of law. "The state must be present to protect, not to allow fear to dominate academic spaces," Masduki said.
KIKA Presidium Chair Rina Mardiana said the organisation is urging law enforcement agencies to immediately conduct a thorough, transparent, and accountable investigation into the perpetrators. Additionally, KIKA is calling on higher education leaders across Indonesia to strengthen protection mechanisms for students and lecturers when they voice academic criticism and public policy concerns.
"We remind public officials of their constitutional obligation to protect, not to allow attacks on, academic freedom," Rina said at a KIKA online press conference on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.
KIKA called on civil society and the media to continue critically monitoring the case. According to Rina, the terror constitutes an attack on academic freedom, freedom of expression, the safety of the academic community, and human rights.
Students had protested the government's free nutritious meals programme (MBG) as a response to government policy deemed detrimental to the public interest.
KIKA Presidium member Herdiansyah Hamzah stated that criticism of public policy is an inseparable part of the university's role as guardian of the nation's critical reasoning. Higher education institutions bear a moral and scholarly responsibility to provide constructive input for the creation of legislation and policies that uphold justice, human rights, and the rule of law.
Every attempt at silencing through threats, digital bullying, hacking, disinformation, or pressure on family members, he said, constitutes an anti-democratic act that damages the ecosystem of academic freedom. "Such attacks demean the role of academics and students as public intellectuals," he said.
Universities, including UGM, must be guaranteed a safe space for dissenting opinions, the testing of ideas, and criticism grounded in data and scholarly ethics. BEM UGM's criticism through public statements sent to international bodies such as UNICEF constitutes a legitimate part of civic participation in democratic governance. Such statements should not be met with terror.
Academically, BEM UGM's critique of the MBG programme underwent national policy analysis, reflecting the functioning of the education system as a vehicle for social change and civilisational advancement. In advocacy studies, social change, dispute resolution, and human rights, this mechanism is scholarly in nature.
Such criticism need not be met with offence, hurt feelings, or fear through threats targeting the personal sphere. Conflating personal matters with terrorising family members is childish and unprofessional.
KIKA assessed the pattern of intimidation targeting Tiyo's family members as dangerous. Such practices create a chilling effect that broadly damages academic freedom, as students and academics may become afraid to express critical views grounded in data and scholarly ethics.
According to Herdiansyah, under national law, academic freedom is guaranteed by Law Number 12 of 2012 on Higher Education. Article 9, paragraph 1, affirms that academic freedom is the freedom of the academic community to explore and develop science and technology responsibly through the implementation of the three pillars of higher education.
Thus, expressions of criticism based on reason and the public interest fall within the corridor of legal protection. Within the framework of international human rights ratified by Indonesia, freedom of expression is protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified through Law Number 12 of 2005, particularly Article 19. The right to education and scholarly development is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified through Law Number 11 of 2005, particularly Article 13.
This protection also extends to academic expression and activities in the digital space. Digital attacks, hacking, and online intimidation against academic expression may be classified as human rights violations in the digital realm.
The principle of academic freedom is also affirmed in the 2017 Surabaya Principles on Academic Freedom, which have been adopted in the Standards, Norms and Regulations on Academic Freedom by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Number 5 of 2021.
KIKA member Masduki emphasised that academics must be free from restrictions and disciplinary measures in developing a responsible and integrity-based academic culture. Public authorities are obligated to respect, protect, and take concrete steps to guarantee academic freedom. Terror and intimidation against students who criticise public policy contravene these standards.
Academic freedom, Masduki said, is a pillar of democracy. Terror against critics of public policy serves as a danger alarm for the rule of law. "The state must be present to protect, not to allow fear to dominate academic spaces," Masduki said.