August 26, 2025 | 06:10 am
The Jakarta Metropolitan Police have urged all students not to participate in rallies with the intention of observing. The Head of Public Relations Division of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Ade Ary Syam Indradi, conveyed this when the protest was taking place in front of the MPR/DPR/DPD building, Central Jakarta, on Monday, August 25, 2025.
Ade Ary said that several police personnel had asked the students about their purpose in joining the mass protest. The students, he said, came only to watch the August 25 rally.
"After being asked by our colleagues in the field about the purpose of these students' attendance, the answer was, 'To watch the demonstration,'" Ade Ary told reporters at the location.
He expressed that this was unnecessary for the students to do so. According to him, the students' duty is to learn.
"This is actually unnecessary. The students' duty is to learn, and it's school hours," he said. "So, let's prevent together, please do not do unnecessary and unbeneficial things."
This demonstration was attended by various groups, including college students and vocational high school students. The students arrived since the morning, but some also came in the afternoon around 4:20 PM towards the back entrance of the Parliament Complex.
They walked while waving One Piece anime flags and the Indonesian national flag. Some people were still wearing school uniforms.
In the afternoon, the police fired tear gas towards the crowd wearing school uniforms. The students ran to avoid the gas, exacerbated by strong winds. The gas was also felt by traders and online motorcycle taxi drivers around the location.
At least 10 students were arrested by the police in this action, two of them labeled as members of anarchist groups.
The mass arrests were carried out in the morning at 10:00 AM and 11:26 AM, as well as in the afternoon at 12:30 PM, according to the records of the Jakarta Pusat Metropolitan Police Resort (Polres Metro).
At the beginning of the demonstration, when the front area of the Parliament Complex had started to become crowded, the police fired tear gas to repel the crowd at around 1:10 PM.
As a result of the shooting, the crowd ran towards Jalan Gerbang Pemuda, Senayan, and crossed the Jakarta Inner Ring Road. In the midst of the chaos, some demonstrators consisting of young people were trampled while trying to move away from the spreading tear gas.
The police, the Indonesian National Army (TNI), and the Jakarta Provincial Government deployed a total of 1,250 combined personnel to secure this demonstration.
The call for the previous mass protest action had widely circulated through chain messages on the WhatsApp messaging application and social media.
The movement, named "Indonesian People's Revolution," invited elements of society, workers, farmers, and students to take to the streets. They demanded an investigation into the alleged corruption case involving former President Joko Widodo's family and the impeachment of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as vice president.
"Keep pressuring the House of Representatives to carry out its duty as the government's control," the message read, as received by Tempo on Friday, August 22, 2025.
The sender also urged the public to focus on other issues, such as tax increases, national debt polemics, and the disparity in welfare between members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the public.
Andi Adam Faturahman contributed to the writing of this article.
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