Mahfud MD Laments Alleged Bribery of Bung Karno University Law Students

Former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Mahfud MD, has highlighted the emergence of alleged bribery involving students during a wave of demonstrations criticising President Prabowo Subianto’s policies. The alleged bribery case came to light following a confession by the Student Executive Board of the Faculty of Law at Bung Karno University (BEM FH UBK) in Jakarta earlier this week. “It is very saddening if students are willing to be paid for that,” Mahfud stated at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Thursday, 25 June 2026. However, the constitutional law expert noted that based on his experience as a student activist, the practice of infiltrating and paying activists is not new. The difference, he said, is that in the past, students were not infiltrated but rather held dual roles as intelligence operatives for the state apparatus. “During my time as a student, there were already many student activists who also worked as intelligence agents,” Mahfud said. He only discovered this after the New Order regime, which the students opposed, collapsed. “When the New Order fell, my relationship with the activist who doubled as an intelligence agent thawed again. He admitted to being a paid intelligence operative. Nowadays, those who are paid have been replaced by buzzers,” Mahfud explained. He added that cases like the one at BEM FH UBK were almost non-existent in the past, as they were considered easier to detect due to the involvement of intermediaries such as alumni. “The bribery model like at UBK also existed, but it was a minor current that was easy to uncover, right?” Mahfud remarked. He therefore urged the younger generation not to be easily divided by external political interests. “Students should remain solid, do not be easily fragmented, even though there will be rival groups, like rival student executive boards,” he said. According to Mahfud, the student struggle must maintain its independence and objectivity. The alleged bribery case involving BEM FH UBK continues to escalate. The issue came to public attention after a protest by representatives of various UBK faculty student executive boards in Central Jakarta on Monday, 15 June 2026. During the action, they raised several demands, including an evaluation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme initiated by the government. Amid the protest, it was announced that Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka was willing to meet them, and 15 student representatives were allowed into the Vice President’s Office for a direct dialogue. However, controversy erupted a week later during an internal clarification forum held on campus on Monday, 22 June 2026. A video recording of the forum went viral on social media after BEM FH UBK Chairman Muhammad Abdimaludin openly admitted to receiving 20 million rupiah in cash. According to his confession, this amount was only 20 per cent of an initial total commitment allegedly promised to them, which was 300 million rupiah. Based on Abdimaludin’s admission during the internal forum, the money was given with the agreement that the students would redirect their demonstration from in front of the State Palace to the House of Representatives (DPR) building. In practice, however, the instruction to relocate failed completely as the student masses chose to remain and voice their aspirations in the State Palace area.