Protests resume in Jakarta after ride-share driver killed

Affan Kurniawan was killed connected Thursday aft an armoured constabulary conveyance ran into him.

Protests person resumed successful Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, aft the decease of a motorcycle taxi operator deed by a constabulary conveyance during a objection implicit a scope of cost-of-living issues.

Affan Kurniawan was killed connected Thursday aft an armoured constabulary conveyance ran into him extracurricular Indonesia’s House of Representatives, arsenic riot constabulary were dispersing crowds who had gathered to request higher wages, little taxes and the removal of allowances for politicians.

Motorcycle taxi drivers gathered extracurricular Jakarta Mobile Brigade Corps office connected Friday to protestation against Kurniawan’s death, and students urged protesters to rally aboriginal extracurricular constabulary office successful the superior city.

President Prabowo Subianto called for calm, expressed condolences for the decease of Kurniawan, and ordered a thorough probe of the incident.

“I americium shocked and disappointed by the excessive actions of the officers,” Prabowo said successful a video message, adding, “I person ordered a thorough and transparent probe … and officers progressive indispensable beryllium held accountable.”

Police occurrence teardrop gas

As Thursday’s protestation persisted into the night, section media reported that riot constabulary fired teardrop state and utilized h2o cannon to disperse people.

The capital’s constabulary chief, Asep Edi Suheri, said that during the clashes, an armoured constabulary conveyance deed and killed Kurniawan, who worked for ride-sharing services Gojek and Grab.

The driver’s household and a motorcycle drivers’ relation said Kurniawan was not progressive successful the protests.

“As constabulary main and connected behalf of the full unit, I would similar to explicit my deepest apologies and condolences,” helium said successful a quality league precocious connected Thursday.

Tens of thousands of people, including galore students and workers, person taken to the streets successful Jakarta and different cities this week to show against a caller monthly lodging allowance for politicians worthy 20 times much than the minimum wage successful immoderate parts of the country.

The demonstrators are besides protesting against debased wages, authorities backing cutbacks and occupation cuts successful the textile industry.

Abigail Limura, cofounder of the societal media level What Is Up, Indonesia?, told Al Jazeera that the protests are a “culmination of months of not lone economical but besides governmental vexation each implicit the country”.

“We are successful the mediate of a worsening economy, collapsing occupation market, wherever thousands person been laid off. And alternatively of compassion, these radical are continually met with indifference and adjacent sometimes tone-deaf and insulting responses,” she said.

Demonstrators respond during a clash with riot constabulary astatine a protestation against what the demonstrators accidental are exorbitant allowances for Indonesian MPs, extracurricular Indonesian parliament buildings successful Jakarta, Indonesia, connected August 28, 2025 [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]

Usman Hamid, enforcement manager of Amnesty International Indonesia, said protesters were besides aggravated astir the long-running contented of constabulary brutality and the heavy-handed effect by constabulary this week to demonstrations.

“The lawsuit of the motorbike taxi operator is conscionable 1 of truthful galore cases of excessive usage of unit by police. There are excessively galore cases crossed Indonesia, including West Papua,” helium told Al Jazeera. “We are perpetually receiving credible reports specified arsenic usage of firearms, arbitrary apprehension and detention, torture and besides extrajudicial killing.”

Major protests person been staged extracurricular of Jakarta’s constabulary office and legislature, portion The Jakarta Post reported that protesters person besides vandalised nationalist facilities and lit respective cars connected fire.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies