Students stage protest after Indonesian parliament passes contentious amendments to military law

Record ID: 1985879

  • Title: Students stage protest after Indonesian parliament passes contentious amendments to military law
  • Date: 20th March 2025
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (MARCH 20, 2025) (REUTERS) STUDENTS IN FRONT OF PARLIAMENT GATE PROTESTER CARRYING SIGN (Bahasa Indonesia): THE MILITARY KILLS WOMEN SIGN READING (English): YOU PASS THE LAW, WE START THE WAR VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CARRYING SIGNS SIGN READING (Bahasa Indonesia): ABOLISH THE MILITARY LAW! (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) PROTESTER USMAN HAMID SAYING: "Our fi
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: HUMAN RIGHTS INDONESIA LAW MILITARY POLITICS PRABOWO SUBIANTO PROTESTS REFORMATION STUDENTS
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • City: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Lawmaking,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA002024220032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Indonesian students staged a protest against the parliament's decision to pass into law contentious revisions to the country's military bill on Thursday (March 20), which will allocate more civilian posts for military officers, with street protests against the changes expected to take place.
    President Prabowo Subianto, who took office last October and was a special forces commander under Suharto, has expanded the armed forces' role into what were considered civilian areas, including for his flagship programme of free meals for children.
    The bill has been criticised by civil society groups, who say it could take the world's third-biggest democracy back to the draconian 'New Order' era of former strongman President Suharto, where military officers dominated civilian affairs.
    "Our fight to erase the military role from the socio-political sphere was arduous. We sacrificed so much, students were killed, thousands had to die," said protester Usman Hamid, who participated in anti-Suharto protests during his reign before the 1998 reformation. "And today it feels like we're going backwards."
    The government has said the bill requires officers to resign from the military before assuming civilian posts at departments such as the state secretariat and the Attorney's General Office. A lawmaker has also said officers could not join state-owned companies, to counter concerns the military would be involved in business.
    (Production: Johan Purnomo, Heru Asprihanto, Zahra Matarani)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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