Security Forces Block Student Protest, Shoving Match Ensues
A mass of students from the University of Indonesia (UI) Student Executive Board (BEM) was halted in front of the Thamrin Nine Ballroom building in Central Jakarta on Friday, 12 June 2026. They were blocked by a joint TNI and police force while attempting to reach the Bundaran HI roundabout to stage a protest titled ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’.
Tensions flared around 4:10 PM Western Indonesia Time when the crowd and security forces engaged in a shoving match. The protesters tried to break through the barricade set up by the police and military. Behind the TNI and police line, officers deployed barricade equipment, implementing a two-layer defence. The appearance of the barricades prompted some protesters to kick and throw objects at them. Security forces then pushed the crowd back to control the situation.
Head of the TNI Information Centre, Brigadier General Muhammad Nas, stated that the military’s involvement in the security operation was conducted at the request of the police. ‘The security operation follows the mechanism, based on a request and is in the nature of assistance to the police,’ he said when asked for confirmation.
The protesters began arriving at 3:10 PM WIB after walking from the Semanggi area in Central Jakarta. They had previously used buses from the UI campus in Depok, but were prevented by security forces from continuing their journey to the Bundaran HI.
BEM UI Chairperson Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan claimed that over 1,000 students were involved in the protest, dispatched in 16 groups from the UI campus. According to him, the authorities prohibited the protest from being held at Bundaran HI and instead directed the crowd towards the Parliament building. The students refused this directive. ‘We refused. We are currently still trying to hold the protest at Bundaran HI,’ Yatalathof said at the location.
He explained that the choice of Bundaran HI as the protest site was intended to demonstrate a lack of trust in the government, including by not holding the protest near the Presidential Palace. The crowd also rejected the idea of centralising the action at the Parliament building, arguing that conveying aspirations to the DPR would not bring about meaningful change. ‘The DPR currently serves only as an administrative counter for the executive,’ he stated.
Elements joining the protest included all UI BEMs, BEM KM IPB, BEM PNJ, BEM Universitas Pancasila, the Gunadarma BEM Alliance, FMN Pusat, FMN UI, Pembebasan, and Semar UI.
Yatalathof stated that five demands would be voiced during the protest: an end to state budget waste, a reduction in the prices of staple goods and fuel, and the cessation of the Free Nutritious Meal Programme (MBG) and the Red-and-White Village Cooperative development. The crowd also demanded an end to militarism in civilian spaces and called for President Prabowo Subianto to acknowledge the government’s mistakes.