UI Students: Police Forced Us to Move Protest to Front of National Monument

Hundreds of University of Indonesia students attempting to protest at Jakarta's Bundaran HI were allegedly blocked by police, who reportedly tried to force them to demonstrate in front of the National Monument instead. Students recounted being stopped while en route to the planned demonstration site on Friday, June 12, 2026.

One student, Diallo, stated that police actively prevented their buses from proceeding to Bundaran HI, detaining an estimated 420 to 500 students. He described the situation as coercive, with police allegedly laughing when students requested passage. The students were later forced to walk from the National Monument to the TVRI area.

Anandaku Dimas Rumi, head of the Law Faculty Student Executive Board (BEM FH UI), claimed police offered no clear reason for blocking their path. The protest, under the banner #IndonesiaMenujuBangkrut (Indonesia Heading Towards Bankruptcy), was organized by UI students along with several other university student bodies. Their five demands include halting wasteful state budget spending, lowering the prices of essential goods and fuel, stopping the 'Nutritious Free Meal Program' and the 'Red and White Village Cooperative' development, ending militarism in civilian spheres, and urging President Prabowo to acknowledge government mistakes.