Violent protests erupted after footage showed elite paramilitary police running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan, resulting in multiple deaths, hundreds injured and over 1,240 arrests, with at least 20 people missing according to KontraS. The military was deployed across Jakarta and stationed in other major cities as crowds gathered and clashes spread. Civil society mobilized through social media and street demonstrations, with influencers circulating demands and authorities disabling TikTok's livestream feature used for coordination. Underlying drivers include widespread economic hardship, a shrinking middle class, heavy reliance on informal-sector work, and perceptions of an unsympathetic political elite.
A wave of protests in Indonesia turned violent last week after footage showed elite paramilitary police running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan. At least eight people have died, hundreds injured and more than 1,240 people have been arrested in the capital, Jakarta, since Thursday and at least 20 people are missing, according to the KontraS rights group. The military was deployed across Jakarta on Monday as hundreds gathered outside parliament and clashes were reported in several other cities.
At the same time, civil society in the Southeast Asian archipelago has mobilized. Through social media and street demonstrations, a collective movement has taken shape. The digital call spread quickly, amplified by public figures and influencers who circulated a list of demands to be met by the government within a week. Indonesian authorities have since disabled TikTok's livestream feature, which had become a key platform for information-sharing and protest mobilization.
Collection
[
|
...
]