Jakarta – The 2024 Indonesian Student and Youth Congress (KMPI) says that they were blocked by police when they were about to hold a demonstration demanding that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo be tried.
KMPI representative Shandi Marthapraja said the intimidation began when representatives of 300 campuses from all over Indonesia held a congress at the Jakarta State University (UNJ) University Training Centre (UTC) Hotel Ballroom on Monday October 7.
"At the beginning of the opening of the event, police officers suddenly arrived at the front door of the venue to monitor the event, including three vice chancellor staff who suddenly opened the door to the congress room without the committee's permission", she said at a press conference on Wednesday October 9.
Shandi also claimed to have received information that the UNJ rectorate was intimidated by the authorities and asked to clarify the activity. Nevertheless, she said that the KMPI continued until it was finished.
Shandi said the congress also agreed that damage had been done to democracy under the leadership of President Widodo.
She explained that the plan was for the results of the agreements reached at the congress to be conveyed directly to members of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2024-2029 period or through a demonstration on Tuesday October 8.
"However, the pressure being applied actually became more massive. Through the campus bureaucracy, the students who organised the event were summoned by the campus authorities to stop all activities related to the congress" she said.
Meanwhile, she said, students from several areas such as Bandung and Karawang were intimidated by the authorities so that they would not enter the Central Jakarta area to join the action at the DPR.
On the other hand, she said that there was also a lunch invitation from the police to the heads of Student Executive Boards (BEM) of universities in Jakarta on the same day and at the same time.
"The student action still went ahead, at around 3 pm on October 8, 2024, students, youth and the ordinary people continued to move off towards the DPR building", she said.
Shandi said however that fully armed police officers continued to block the demonstrators under the Jalan Gatot Subroto flyover directly in front of Senayan Park.
"Yet, conveying an opinion through peaceful actions is normal and common in a democratic process", she said.
"Therefore, the demands of Indonesian students and youth as agreed upon together, namely to arrest and try Jokowi, are increasingly relevant", she said.
CNN Indonesia has tried to confirm the matter of the blocking of the students with the head of the Metro Jaya Regional Police public relations division, Senior Commissioner Ade Ary Syam Indradi, but have not yet received a response. (tfq/isn)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Massa Mahasiswa Mengaku Diadang Aparat saat Mau Demo Jokowi di DPR".]
