Palace Responds to Prabowo's Statement Affirming Academic Freedom on Campus

Deputy Minister of State Secretary, Juri Ardiantoro, has explained President Prabowo Subianto’s statement urging universities to exercise academic freedom, not other kinds of freedoms. He stated that the government respects and upholds academic freedom within higher education institutions, but reminded that such freedom must be based on academic values and responsibility. “The President has always conveyed that campuses have academic freedom, and everyone knows this is indisputable. The President deeply understands and respects academic freedom on campus,” Juri told reporters at the Presidential Palace complex on Monday, 29 June 2026. Juri further explained that the President’s emphasis was on the academic aspect itself. As long as an activity, view, or opinion can be scientifically and academically justified, that freedom is legitimate within the higher education environment. “Therefore, the emphasis is on academic freedom. So, as long as it can be academically accounted for, freedom on campus is valid and permissible,” he said. “The question is whether the freedoms exercised by many groups on campus reflect academic freedom or are completely outside matters based on academic values. That is the note,” he continued. Previously, President Prabowo Subianto explained the important role of universities in Indonesia. He stressed that higher education institutions must be spaces for the development of knowledge, science, and technology. He affirmed that the government has no issue with differing viewpoints, as universities are places where ideas are contested. “We have no problem with differing views. The university is a place where ideas are contested, a contest of ideas, views, philosophies, and innovations,” Prabowo said at a Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology event on Sunday, 28 June 2026. The President stressed that the freedom possessed by campuses is academic freedom to develop knowledge and find solutions to the nation’s various problems, not other types of freedom. “It is stated there that the campus has academic freedom, not other kinds of freedoms,” he said. Prabowo reminded that higher education institutions should not become places filled with conflict. Instead, campuses must actively develop science and technology that can provide tangible benefits to society.