Mulawarman University Students Protest Deputy Human Rights Minister's Visit
Dozens of students from the Mulawarman University Student Executive Board staged a protest rejecting the presence of Deputy Minister for Human Rights Mugiyanto on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. They interrupted an event held at the 27 September Sports Hall of Mulawarman University, Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
Students from various faculties unfurled banners reading ‘Expel Mugiyanto, Betrayer of Reformasi’ as Mugiyanto delivered a public lecture. Other students held up white posters depicting the faces of activists who disappeared during the New Order era, such as Wiji Thukul and Petrus Bima Anugrah.
‘Past human rights violation cases remain unresolved,’ said action coordinator Heththan Hersya Putra to Tempo on Wednesday, 24 June 2026. According to Heththan, when interrupted, Mugiyanto mostly listened to the students’ demands regarding the settlement of past human rights violations.
Heththan recounted that campus security initially asked the Student Executive Board to leave. However, the students continued to voice their rejection of Mugiyanto’s presence. The students monitored the activity until it concluded around the sports hall area. Heththan said neither Mugiyanto nor campus representatives met with the students specifically.
Mugiyanto is a pro-democracy activist who was abducted by the Tim Mawar unit during the 1998 riots. After reformasi, he actively fought for the resolution of enforced disappearance cases and human rights violations, including through the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared. When asked for comment via WhatsApp message on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, Mugiyanto had not responded.
At Mulawarman University, Mugiyanto attended an event organised by the East Kalimantan regional office of the Ministry of Human Rights together with the university on strengthening students’ human rights capacity. Mugiyanto said human rights must become the spirit of development. ‘It is important for the younger generation to understand human rights,’ he said, as quoted from an official university statement.
Mulawarman University Vice Rector for Student Affairs, Moh. Bahzar, stated the campus allowed students to convey their aspirations to Mugiyanto, including regarding human rights and the resolution of cases of activists who disappeared during the New Order and reformasi periods. ‘It was safe. The event ran until completion. The commotion was just everyone talking,’ Bahzar told Tempo on Wednesday, 24 June 2026.