TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The spokesperson for the Jakarta Governor, Cyril Raoul Hakim, or Chico Hakim, has cleared the air regarding reports that the government banned demonstrations at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout on Friday, June 12, 2026. On that afternoon, hundreds of students intending to rally at Bundaran HI found themselves blocked by joint personnel from the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), forcing them to relocate their protest to the front of the Parliament Building.
Chico Hakim denied that the regional administration had placed a ban on demonstrations at the iconic landmark. "The Jakarta Provincial Government fully supports the public's right to voice their opinions," Chico told Tempo on Saturday, June 13, 2026.
Prior to his statement, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police claimed to hold a solid legal foundation for restricting demonstrations within the immediate vicinity of the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout. The police argued that the restriction was rooted in Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation Gubernatorial Decree Number 232 of 2015.
"It was noted that Bundaran HI is an area for community activities and business circulation," explained the Head of the Public Relations Division of the Jakarta Metro Police, Grand Commissioner Budi Hermanto.
According to Budi, traffic congestion would spike if the crowd insisted on gathering at the HI Roundabout. "This would trigger a tremendous impact," Budi noted in a statement delivered to reporters.
Budi maintained that law enforcement sought a middle ground to ensure the students' aspirations could still be aired without disturbing the broader public. Consequently, the police restricted the designated demonstration area to the front of the Parliament Building or the Arjuna Wijaya Horse Statue.
Meanwhile, Anandaku Dimas Rumi, Chairperson of the University of Indonesia’s Law Faculty Student Executive Board (BEM FH UI), previously contended that their march was obstructed by police officers without any clear justification. "They just laughed off our requests when we asked them to open up the road blocks," Dimas remarked.
Security forces were even alleged to have hindered students who were attempting to perform their Friday prayers. "So, they were forced to walk all the way from the DPR premises to the TVRI area," Dimas told Tempo during a separate confirmation.
Diallo, a UI student participating in the rally, echoed these claims, noting that the police actively sought to reroute the demonstration away from the HI Roundabout toward the parliament building. "They (students) were indeed forced to move the entire demonstration to the front of the DPR building," Diallo said on Friday, June 12, 2026.
Read: Military Deployment at Student Protest Sparks Debate in Indonesia
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