TNI Explains Involvement in Securing BEM UI Alliance Protest at Bundaran HI

The Head of the TNI Information Centre, Brigadier General Muhammad Nas, explained that TNI members were involved in securing a protest by the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board (BEM UI) alliance at the Bundaran HI area in Central Jakarta on Friday, 12 June 2026, at the request of the Indonesian National Police. “In accordance with the mechanism, the security operation is upon request and is in the nature of assistance to the Police,” he said when contacted on Friday, 12 June 2026. The crowd from the BEM UI student alliance was blocked by TNI and police personnel in front of the Thamrin Nine Ballroom building in Central Jakarta. They were prohibited from moving to demonstrate under the banner ‘Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia’ at Bundaran HI. Hundreds of masses from the BEM UI student alliance arrived in front of the Thamrin Nine Ballroom at 15.10 WIB. They had previously walked from Semanggi, Central Jakarta, after the buses they were travelling on were barred by authorities from proceeding to Bundaran HI. The crowd was blocked by hundreds of TNI and police members. Military and police personnel formed a barricade closing the road to Bundaran HI, preventing the students from advancing. “Open, open,” the protesters chanted. BEM UI Chairman Yatalathof Ma’shum Imawan stated that more than 1,000 students were set to join the demonstration. They departed by bus from the UI Campus in Depok, divided into 16 groups. However, police barred them from holding the protest at Bundaran HI, forcing them to demonstrate in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building instead. “We refuse. We are currently still trying to hold the action at Bundaran HI,” he said in the area. The student alliance chose Bundaran HI to symbolise their distrust of the government, deliberately avoiding the Presidential Palace. They also rejected demonstrating at the DPR, arguing that conveying aspirations to the legislature would not change the situation, as they view the DPR as an institution representing the government. “Now they are merely an administrative counter for the executive,” he said. The participating alliance includes BEMs from across UI, BEM KM IPB, BEM PNJ, BEM Pancasila University, the Gunadarma BEM Alliance, FMN Pusat, FMN UI, Pembebasan, and Semar UI. Athof outlined five demands to be voiced: stop the waste of the state budget (APBN), lower prices of basic necessities and fuel, halt the free nutritious meal programme (MBG) and the construction of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives, end militarism in the civilian sphere, and for President Prabowo to stop evading and acknowledge the government’s mistakes.