Students Demonstrate at Horse Statue, Urge Asset Confiscation Bill to be Passed

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Students from various campuses gathered at the Horse Statue, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta, Thursday (20/2/2024). They demonstrated to convey their aspirations, one of which was the demand to immediately ratify the Asset Confiscation Bill to recover state losses due to corruption.

Based on Kompas' monitoring, Thursday afternoon, the students came from the National University of Jakarta, Bung Karno University, Jakarta State University, Muhammadiyah University of Jakarta, campuses and polytechnics from Jambi, and so on. As the afternoon went on, more and more students joined and participated in the demonstration.

They carried posters criticizing the government, burned tires, and gave enthusiastic speeches. They also read the student oath.

One of the student representatives from Bung Karno University (UBK) during his speech said that there were a number of student demands in the series of demonstrations titled #IndonesiaGelap. They have been demonstrating since Monday, (2/17/2025). The plan is that all student elements from all over Indonesia will hold the peak of the demonstration on Friday (2/21/2025).

In his speech, the student representative from UBK said that students brought a number of demands to the state whose regulations have been unclear lately. Students are thinking people so they must criticize policies.

They hope that the criticism and critical voices of students will be given attention as part of conveying aspirations. The government is also asked not to be afraid of the critical voices of students.

Students believe that budget efficiency is no longer needed if the government is willing to pass the Asset Confiscation Bill. They believe that if the regulation is passed, the state budget will be sufficient.

In relation to human rights, students also asked President Prabowo to evaluate the performance of the National Police. Law enforcement officers must protect the community.

Students also paid attention to policy making in the Prabowo-Gibran government era where policy making was always impromptu. Policies should be made based on the interests of the people. Because, the will of the people is the highest law in democracy.

Met at the location, the Head of the Gambir Police Sector, Central Jakarta, Commissioner Rezeki R Respati said that around 300 police personnel were deployed to secure the location around the student demonstration.

Around the Horse Statue, the police have blocked access to the Palace with concrete barriers and barbed wire fences. Students cannot move towards the Palace because access on that road has been closed.