Police Release 14 Surabaya Protesters, Four Named as Suspects
Surabaya City Police have released 14 of the 24 people arrested in the wake of the #IndonesiaSekarat protest in front of the Grahadi State Building on Friday (24/6). The remaining 10 are still undergoing legal proceedings. Four individuals have been named as suspects, while six others tested positive for drugs.
Surabaya Police Chief Commissioner Luthfie Sulistiawan stated that the 14 were released because the evidence against them is still pending analysis of communication devices or mobile phones seized by the police. “We have sent these 14 home for now because, in terms of evidence, we are still waiting for the results of the analysis of their communication devices. At this time, there are no criminal elements we can charge them with to fulfil the criminal elements,” Luthfie said at the Surabaya Police Headquarters on Sunday (28/6).
Meanwhile, the four suspects, identified as MA, ARF, NB, and DSD, have been detained and charged with vandalism and resisting officers, which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. “However, these four people have been named as suspects for vandalism and assaulting officers, with a penalty of five years, so we have detained them,” he stated.
Luthfie explained that the four suspects came to the location after being influenced by social media posts, particularly from an Instagram account with the initials BA. Suspect MA reportedly joined the action after seeing a post on the account inviting Surabaya residents to take to the streets. “There was an invitation saying, ‘Let’s play football, and watch the demo.’ This suspect was interested and then came to the location,” he said. Suspect ARF also reportedly saw a similar post on the BA Instagram account before becoming involved in revving motorcycle engines in front of the Grahadi building to provoke the crowd and throwing stones at officers. Suspect NB claimed to have been provoked after watching a TikTok live stream on a friend’s phone, while suspect DSD had reportedly been following the BA Instagram account since the August 2025 riots. On the day of the incident, DSD saw a digital pamphlet on the account and invited a friend to go to the location.
Luthfie stressed that, based on initial statements, the suspects claimed they did not come as part of any particular group or alliance but were provoked by social media invitations. “We are continuing to investigate whether this is true or if they are actually groups involved in organising yesterday’s action,” he said. In terms of background, the four suspects are not students. Luthfie mentioned they work as employees and labourers from the Surabaya and Gresik areas.
Additionally, Luthfie said six other people tested positive for methamphetamine use. This was revealed when police conducted urine tests on all the detained protesters. They are currently undergoing assessment with the Surabaya City National Narcotics Agency (BNN). “We are processing these six people for drug offences, as their urine tests proved positive for methamphetamine. We are processing this in cooperation with the Surabaya City BNN for assessment,” he said. “While we investigate the mobile phones they were carrying, this is still in process, and the results will serve as a basis for potentially uncovering networks or finding other things correlated with the provocateurs or other groups. We will continue to investigate this,” he added.
The coordinator of the Surabaya branch of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Fatkhul Khoir, confirmed that most of the 24 people detained at the Surabaya Police Headquarters had been sent home. However, he noted an inconsistency in the statements made by the police. “On Saturday (27/6) afternoon, the Police Chief and the Criminal Investigation Unit Head told all the detainees and their attending parents that everyone would be released on guarantee. But then in the evening, that changed. There was an inconsistency,” Fatkhul said. He revealed that KontraS is assisting one individual with the status of a child in conflict with the law, a 16-year-old who was about to enrol in senior high school. The child is now placed in a shelter belonging to the P3A Agency, rather than being returned to their parents as initially promised. Regarding access to legal assistance, Fatkhul said KontraS faced no obstacles when entering the Surabaya Police Headquarters. He stated that his team was welcomed by two investigators from the Criminal Investigation Unit and allowed in to collect data.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Advocacy and Campaign Division of the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Ramli Himawan, confirmed that as of Saturday night, some of the 24 people who contacted the LBH hotline had been released. The detailed distribution of their legal statuses is still being traced. “Of the 24 people who contacted the LBH Surabaya hotline, some have been released. We are still tracing the details,” Ramli said. He also stated that LBH Surabaya was obstructed when trying to provide legal assistance to the dozens of #IndonesiaSekarat protesters detained at the Surabaya Police Headquarters. The obstruction lasted from Friday (26/6) evening until Saturday (27/6) afternoon. The LBH Surabaya legal team arrived at the police headquarters around 10 p.m. WIB on Friday to ascertain the whereabouts of the demonstrators and provide legal aid. However, access for lawyers to meet directly with the detained citizens was not granted quickly and effectively until Saturday at 5 p.m. WIB.