Students Blocked by Police En Route to Bundaran HI Protest, Told to Perform Friday Prayers Elsewhere

A group of students from the University of Indonesia (UI) intending to stage a protest at the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia (HI) area were blocked by police. The interception took place in the Semanggi area.

Chairman of the UI Student Executive Board (BEM) Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan stated that students belonging to the ‘Alliance for the Movement Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’ were blockaded and subjected to repressive measures by police while heading to the protest site. According to him, the students were forced to demonstrate in front of the DPR Building.

‘Even though we had planned, and also sent a letter to the police, that we would hold the action at Bundaran HI,’ he said at Bundaran HI on Friday (12/6/2026) afternoon.

He explained that at around 11:55 WIB, students in the Dukuh Atas area were detained by police, despite the fact that the students intended to perform Friday prayers. The police, however, disregarded this and directed the students to pray elsewhere.

‘When asked for the reason, they did not answer and instead told us to pray somewhere else. Since when does the police have the right to regulate how religion is practised? Since when does the police have the right to prohibit Indonesian citizens from performing worship as guaranteed by the constitution?’ he said.