Bima Polres arrest 10 students who were protesting and demanding a road repair

On 12 May 2022, ten demonstrators who were members of the Monta Student Alliance were allegedly arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Bima Resort Police (Polres). The protest, which lasted for four days, demanded repairing roads in Waro village, Monta district, in the southern coastal area of Bima Regency. The first protest took place on 9 May, and it caused no reaction from the government regarding road reparations. Therefore, the students protested on 10,11 and 12 May. On the last day, the demonstration was more significant, and police and TNI were present to forcibly dispersed the crowd.

In a press conference, the police said the protesters had been warned but did not comply. However, witnesses have stated that what happened was a forced dispersal and repressive measures against the demonstrators. Students block the road based on public interest so that the damaged road is immediately repaired and can be used. The poor road condition has claimed many victims, especially two-wheeler riders.

Bima Polres have named suspects and detained ten demonstrators in Bima Regency. The arrested students came from several universities. They include AR (20), IT (20), and ARH (20) from Bima’s College of Teacher Training and Education (STKIP). Those from Mataram Polytechnic, AK (21), and SU (21). Then there are those from Muhammadiyah University of Bima, with the initials SA (25) and MA (22). Three others, MU (23) from Mataram University, MR (19) from Makassar Muslim Indonesia University, and AAM (22) from Makassar Islamic University.
 They were named as suspects under Article 192 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 63 paragraph 1 of Indonesian Law Number 38/2004 concerning Roads, which carries a sentence of nine years to 15 years in prison and a fine of IDR 2 billion.

All suspects were detained at the West Nusa Tenggara Police Detention Centre. The Head of Public Relations of the West Nusa Tenggara Police, Commissioner Artanto, confirmed that the ten students were released from detention on 28 May 2022. The police granted the suspension of the suspects’ arrest thanks to guarantees provided by local community leaders.

In general, people criticised the repressive actions taken by the police against the students. They were demanding road repairs in the Monta district, the southern coastal area, which was not responded to by the Bima district government. Chairman of the Monta Dalam Student Association (IMMADA) Mataram, Wahidin assessed the repressive actions and forced arrests of ten people from the Monta Student and Community Alliance as political anarchism. They were not committing a crime and the naming of suspects by law enforcers against the arrested protesters undermines democracy.

The Secretary General of the Birman Mataram Student Association, Muhammad Farhan, and other students also expressed their views. Based on the deliberations used by the Police, it also has no basis for arriving at a strong allegation of committing a criminal act, because the determination of suspects and arrests are made against persons who are strongly suspected of committing criminal acts, not demonstrators who are clearly fighting for the rights of the people, it would be unwise to be treated like criminals. They are not criminals or drug dealers. They are students who are moved by their conscience. If the police do not understand this, then the NTB Police must remove the Chief of Police of the Bima district because they failed to detect and manage problems.

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Junction in Waro village (-8.724028543276845, 118.6743708196681)
administrative region: Indonesia, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Bima Regency, Monta District, Waro Village
total number of victims: ten
period of incident: 12.05.2022
perpetrator: police, other security forces
perpetrator details: Polres Bima
Issues: freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, arbitrary detention
Sources: https://www.lpwntb.or.id/penahanan-10-demonstran-di-bima-kegagalan-pemda-dan-polisi/, https://lomboktimur.pikiran-rakyat.com/ntb-raya/pr-2554504021/terkait-penahanan-10-aktivis-mahasiswa-bima-imbi-mataram-upayakan-jalur-restoratif-justice, https://lomboktimur.pikiran-rakyat.com/ntb-raya/pr-2554481860/immada-mataram-mengecam-penangkapan-10-massa-aksi-di-bima-wahidin-bentuk-anarkisme-politik, , https://voi.id/berita/172769/polisi-kabulkan-penangguhan-10-mahasiswa-terlibat-aksi-blokir-jalan Further HRM News: