August 26, 2025 | 10:59 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) estimates that 370 individuals who participated in the August 25 demonstration in front of the Parliament building in Central Jakarta were arrested by police. They suspect that about half of the detainees are minors.
On the night after the protest, several legal aides from LBH Jakarta went to the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters in South Jakarta, where the demonstrators had been taken. They obtained information about the number of detainees from the General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police.
"There are about 370 people detained at the Police Headquarters," LBH Jakarta representative Daniel Winarta said in a written statement on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. "Two hundred of them are underage."
LBH Jakarta also reported that many of the demonstrators appeared to be injured. "Legal aids witnessed the detainees having bruises and injuries," they said.
Students Among the Detained
Police arrested several students who participated in the Parliament demonstration. As of Monday afternoon, at least 10 students had been arrested, with two of them labeled as members of an anarchist group. Based on birth years recorded by the Central Jakarta Metropolitan Police, these students are 17 years old or younger.
Tempo has requested confirmation from the Head of Public Relations at the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Commissioner General Ade Ary Syam Indradi, regarding the number of arrested demonstrators. However, there has been no response as of the publication of this news.
Protest Turns Chaotic
The demonstration on Monday drew participants from a variety of groups, including university and vocational high school students. Students arrived in the morning, while some came in the afternoon, around 4:20 p.m., at the back entrance of the Parliament Complex. They walked while waving a One Piece anime flag and the Indonesian flag. Some were still wearing their school uniforms.
In the afternoon, police fired tear gas at the students in school uniforms. The students ran to escape the gas, which was worsened by strong winds. The gas also affected traders and online motorcycle taxi drivers in the area. At the beginning of the demonstration, when the front area of the Parliament Complex started to get crowded, police also fired tear gas to disperse the crowd around 1:10 p.m.
As a result of the tear gas, the crowd ran toward Jalan Gerbang Pemuda, Senayan, and crossed the Jakarta Inner Toll Road. In the midst of the chaos, some protesters, predominantly young people, were trampled as they tried to get away from the spreading gas.
A total of 1,250 joint personnel from the police, the Indonesian Military (TNI), and the Jakarta provincial government were deployed to secure the demonstration.
Call for Protest on August 25
The call for the protest circulated widely via chain messages on the WhatsApp messaging application and other social media platforms.
The movement, named the "Indonesian People's Revolution," invited the public, workers, farmers, and students to take to the streets. Their demands included an investigation into alleged corruption cases involving former President Joko Widodo's family and the impeachment of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as vice president.
The message, received by Tempo on Friday, August 22, 2025, also read, "Continue to pressure the Parliament to carry out its duties as a government oversight." The message also urged the public to highlight other issues, such as tax increases, national debt polemics, and the disparity in welfare between members of Parliament and the public.
Andi Adam Faturahman contributed to the report
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