TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Metropolitan Police has reiterated that the landmark Hotel Indonesia (HI) Roundabout in Central Jakarta is not a designated zone for public demonstrations. Consequently, security forces intercepted the student alliance planning to stage a rally titled "Menuju Indonesia Bangkrut" (Towards a Bankrupt Indonesia) at the site on Friday, June 12, 2026.
The Jakarta Metro Police Head of Public Relations, Sr. Comr. Budi Hermanto, explained that the HI Roundabout serves as a bustling hub for community activities and a vital artery for the capital's economy. He emphasized that these conditions are the primary reasons public demonstrations are restricted in the area.
"We all know that the vicinity of the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout is not a venue for voicing public aspirations," Budi noted in a written statement on Friday, June 12, 2026.
As a result, Jakarta Metro Police have requested that the student alliance relocate their planned demonstration away from the HI Roundabout. Law enforcement officials have offered several alternative venues instead, including the area surrounding the Arjuna Wijaya Statue and the gates of the Parliament complex.
Prior to this directive, a convoy from the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board (BEM UI) was halted by security forces in the Semanggi intersection of Central Jakarta. The student bloc had intended to make their way to the HI Roundabout to join the Friday afternoon demonstration. "Yes, our group was intercepted by security forces," confirmed Anandaku Dimas Rumi, Chairperson of the UI Faculty of Law BEM, when contacted on Friday, June 12, 2026.
Roughly 1,000 UI students were slated to participate in the mass rally. Since early morning, the demonstrators had gathered at the FISIP UI parking lot in Depok before departing for the capital in a convoy of buses split into several distinct waves.
According to Dimas, hundreds of students had already departed by bus toward Jakarta, only to have their journey disrupted by the police blockade. Despite the restrictions, several splinter groups of demonstrators had already arrived and were waiting around the HI Roundabout area by Friday afternoon. The scattered crowd consisted of student groups, labor union members, and a group of women who claimed to have been holding their ground at the location since around 10:00 a.m.
As previously reported, chairperson of BEM UI Yatalathof Ma'shum Imawan stated that the cross-campus coalition would bring together BEM UI, 15 individual faculty-level student boards, BEM KM IPB, BEM PNJ, BEM Pancasila University, the Gunadarma University BEM Alliance, FMN Pusat, FMN UI, Pembebasan, and Semar UI.
"Several organizations and movement nodes that participated in the national consolidation at the UI Campus yesterday are still confirming their attendance and estimated participant numbers in tonight's meeting," Yatalathof said on June 11.
The student alliance prepared to voice five demands, which include an end to state budget mismanagement, lowering the prices of basic commodities and fuel, halting the flagship Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Program, canceling the construction of the Red and White Village Cooperatives, and putting a stop to militarism within the civil domain. Furthermore, the coalition strongly urged President Prabowo to openly acknowledge the government's policy missteps.
Hendrik Yaputra and Ricky Juliansyah contributed to this article.
Read: Police Block UI Students En Route to Jakarta Protest
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