Pigai: Blocking of Student Protest March to Hotel Indonesia Roundabout Complies with Regulations

Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai stated that the blocking action carried out by joint TNI-Polri officers against students during a demonstration titled ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’ was in accordance with applicable regulations. He explained that the blocking, intended to prevent students from demonstrating at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area, aligns with Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation Number 232 of 2015 concerning the Control of the Implementation of Public Expression of Opinion in Open Spaces. “Regarding demonstrations in business and traffic areas, there are rules. The officers did not violate anything related to the blocking,” Pigai said at the DPR, MPR, and DPD Complex on Wednesday, 17 June 2026. He emphasised that he supports the students’ actions in carrying out public expression of opinion. However, it is also important to understand that officers are permitted to take restrictive measures. According to Pigai, in the context of human rights, the Siracusa Principles grant officers the authority to impose restrictions based on certain considerations, such as the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area being an epicentre of business and traffic. Under these principles, he said, both demonstrators and officers on duty have respective responsibilities to respect each other’s civil rights, including public order. “So, it is in accordance with the Siracusa human rights principles, that demonstrations cannot be held at this point, only at other points due to considerations of traffic congestion or other strategic factors. However, I appreciate the students for continuing to voice the people’s rights,” said the former Komnas HAM Commissioner. The Siracusa Principles govern the restriction and derogation of human rights within the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These principles are used to limit freedom of expression, namely that it must not be used to incite war, spread hatred, or promote discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, and race, nor to oppose national order. However, in their implementation, the Siracusa Principles stipulate that restrictions on civil and political rights must not be discriminatory, and restrictions are imposed based on urgent social needs for legitimate purposes to protect national security or public safety, public order, health, public morals, and the rights and freedoms of others. Students from the ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’ action were blocked by joint TNI-Polri officers as they attempted to reach the demonstration point at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area. University of Indonesia BEM Chair Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan, who participated in the action, said the blocking by officers began as the crowd arrived in the Semanggi area and continued up to the front of the Thamrin Nine Building. The Head of Public Relations for the Metro Jaya Regional Police, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, explained the police’s reason for not granting students access to the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area. He stated that Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation Number 232 of 2015 specifies that the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area is not permitted as a demonstration location. He noted that the area from the Senayan Roundabout, Semanggi, Hotel Indonesia Roundabout, to the Arjuna Wijaya Horse Statue area in Central Jakarta is an epicentre of business and traffic, so a demonstration would result in severe traffic congestion. “If these main roads in Jakarta are paralysed, other public activities will be disrupted. That is what we must convey to the public and the students,” Budi said at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout area.