The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) condemned what it described as the state’s repressive response to Thursday’s, August 28, 2025 protests and urged President Prabowo Subianto to dismiss the National Police Chief. 

The organization said the protests were a legitimate public reaction to “reckless policies” by the House of Representatives (DPR) and government, yet authorities responded with brutality.

“Not only did they fire tear gas, this time a (police’s) Brimob tactical vehicle ran over online motorcycle taxi drivers. One of them was killed,” YLBHI said in a statement on Friday, August 29, 2025.

According to YLBHI, the violent conduct by security forces violates democratic principles and human rights, showing that the government and police have failed to uphold democracy’s mandate of serving the people.

The organization stressed that such deadly crackdowns have happened repeatedly. Between July 2024 and June 2025, YLBHI recorded 55 civilian deaths linked to police violence: 10 from torture, 37 from extrajudicial killings, and 8 from wrongful arrests.

High-profile cases include the killings of minors, such as Gamma in Semarang, Central Java, and Afif Maulana in Padang, West Sumatra. YLBHI denounced the National Police as perpetuating a “repressive, barbaric, and anti-democratic” culture, adding that longstanding public criticism of police performance and image has been met with little accountability.

“It is deeply ironic that citizens’ lives are lost at the hands of state agents using equipment funded by taxpayers’ money,” the group said.

It called the death of protesters at the hands of police a state crime that requires full accountability, including an independent audit of police powers and weapons.

YLBHI further declared that both the government and DPR have failed to demonstrate democratic leadership. Instead of engaging in dialogue and transparency when faced with criticism, they have chosen to suppress civil space through violence.

Demands by YLBHI:

● Immediate release of all detained demonstrators nationwide, as their detention undermines constitutional rights;

● The President must order the National Police to halt repressive practices against protests;

● Full accountability for the police chief and President in prosecuting officers and commanders responsible for violence, beyond internal disciplinary measures;

● Establishment of an independent investigation team into the August 28 crackdown;

● Resignation or dismissal of Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo for failing to reform the force’s repressive nature;

● A comprehensive reform of the police institution to ensure professionalism, accountability, and democracy;

● Political party leaders and the DPR to discipline lawmakers accused of inappropriate conduct that fueled public anger, including Ahmad Sahroni, Eko Hendro Purnomo, Adies Kadir, Deddy Sitorus, Nafa Urbach, Surya Utama, Rahayu Saraswati, and Sigit Purnomo Syamsuddin Said;

● The government and DPR to fulfill demonstrators’ demands, including addressing the jobs crisis, scrapping the Criminal Procedure Code bill (R-KUHAP), halting environmentally destructive national projects, advancing the Asset Confiscation Bill with public participation, and ensuring fair taxation;

● The military must stay out of civilian affairs and avoid exploiting the crisis to weaken democracy;

● Komnas HAM must investigate allegations of serious human rights violations, including the killing of an online motorcycle driver by a Brimob vehicle, and monitor government attempts to control social media during protests;

● Dissolution of the Ministry of Human Rights, which YLBHI argues has failed to prevent rights violations by state institutions.

“We believe this tragedy shows the dangerous direction of our democracy. Without change, this country will no longer be a democracy, but a tyranny in new packaging,” the statement concluded.