SURABAYA — The demonstration rejecting the revision of the TNI Law in Surabaya turned chaotic on Monday (3/24/2025), and the police arrested around 40 demonstrators.
The Surabaya LBH Team is currently at the Surabaya Police Headquarters to provide legal assistance and ensure the whereabouts of the demonstrators who were detained.
However, as of 22.30 WIB, there was no clarity regarding their whereabouts, and the National Police Headquarters had not yet permitted the legal team to accompany them because the investigation process was still ongoing and required a power of attorney.
This is very unfortunate, considering that the right to legal aid is a basic right guaranteed by law for every citizen, including demonstrators who are facing the authorities.
In the context of mass action, the right to legal aid is protected by Law Number 16 of 2011 concerning Legal Aid, as well as Article 114 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires investigators to notify each suspect or defendant of this right.
In addition, freedom of opinion and assembly is guaranteed in Article 28E of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees that every citizen has the right to express their opinion freely, including through demonstrations. Protection of this right is also stated in Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights.
“We from the Anti-Militarism Front strongly condemn the act of detention without providing the legal rights that should be received by the masses. We urge the police to immediately provide proper legal aid rights to those who are detained and to release those who are still being detained without a clear legal basis,” read a statement from the Anti-Militarism Front received by Civilians.id, Monday night.
This detention was carried out after a demonstration rejecting the Indonesian National Army Law (UU TNI) held in front of the Grahadi State Building, Surabaya, East Java, ended in chaos.
The action began to heat up when a group of people from the back row of protesters threw plastic bottles towards the yard of the Grahadi State Building. The throwing action was then followed by several other protesters.
They threw plastic bottles, stones, firecrackers, and even Molotov cocktails into the yard of the building. The fire from the Molotov cocktails burned the building’s fence, but the police managed to put it out using a Water Cannon Car.
When the chaos heated up, dozens of people suspected of being police wearing black shirts arrested protesters calling themselves Surabaya Civilians, in front of the Grahadi State Building, Surabaya, East Java, Monday (3/24/2025).
The mass action to reject the TNI Law in Surabaya carried 8 points of demand:
1. Reject the revision of the current TNI Law
2. Reject the function of the TNI in the civilian realm
3. Reject the function of the TNI in military operations other than war, especially in the cyber realm
4. Disband the command center
5. Withdraw the military from all of Papua
6. Revise the Military Justice Law
7. Return the TNI to the barracks
8. Remove the TNI from civilian positions.[c]
