UGM Student Union Says Bribery Allegation Against BEM FH UBK is a Warning for Student Movement

Ketua Umum Serikat Mahasiswa Universitas Gadjah Mada (Sema UGM) Bintang Mesa has stated that the alleged bribery of a Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa (BEM) official at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Bung Karno (UBK) serves as an alarm for the student movement. Bintang said this alarm must be used by students to strengthen the movement’s infrastructure and solidify consolidation. He described the incident as a divide-and-conquer tactic to suppress activism. “Divide et impera of the student movement,” he told Tempo on Wednesday, 24 June 2026. Bintang asserted that students must remain instruments of struggle. He emphasised that Sema UGM will continue to reject all forms of taming the movement, such as their action at the Gelanggang Inovasi dan Kreativitas (GIK) Auditorium on Monday, 15 June 2026. At that time, Sema UGM disrupted a public discussion titled “Pancasila Pemersatu Bangsa”. The event was attended by several state officials including Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid, and Head of the Poverty Alleviation Agency Budiman Sudjatmiko. Sema UGM rejected several ministers from President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet, arguing the government is blind to numerous policies that never address the root of problems, while officials flaunt the waste of state funds on overseas visits with unclear benefits. Previously, Ketua BEM Keluarga Mahasiswa Universitas Mulawarman Heththan Hersya Putra also condemned the bribery of the BEM FH UBK official. Hersya assessed that the bribe poisons student integrity and tarnishes the movement. “This is a debilitating effort that injures the student movement,” he said. The UBK rectorate received a direct confession from BEM FH UBK Chair Muhammad Abdi Maludin regarding the bribe he received. The money was given by an alumnus of the Faculty of Law through a police officer. The alumnus had requested that BEM UBK not hold a demonstration in the State Palace area. In return, the person would provide Rp20 million if BEM UBK agreed to move the protest location to the front of the DPR, MPR, and DPD complex. Vice Rector III Daniel Panda stated that the students rejected the request. BEM UBK still held the demonstration at the Patung Kuda area. “The money was still received. It was given at dawn,” he said during a press conference in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, 23 June 2026. At Patung Kuda, BEM UBK held a demonstration titled “Tata Ulang Indonesia” on Monday, 15 June 2026. On the same day, BEM UBK representatives later accepted an invitation for closed mediation with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The mediation was held at the Vice Presidential Palace with 15 student representatives present. The UBK rectorate suspended Muhammad Abdi Maludin’s student status on Monday, 22 June 2026. Daniel said the campus will summon and examine several witnesses and parties suspected of involvement in the alleged demonstration bribery case.