JAKARTA, March 6 — An Indonesian court today acquitted an activist accused of inciting the country’s worst riots in over two decades in August last year, a ruling described by rights groups as a small victory for civil liberties in the country.
Thousands of students, human rights activists and civilians joined nationwide protests against the government’s spending priorities, including a decision to increase financial incentives for lawmakers.
The protests turned violent after the killing by police of a motorcycle taxi rider in Jakarta, with riots lasting into September and ending with 10 people killed.
Nearly 7,000 people have been arrested as of last month, with 500 sentenced and 125 still in detention, according to a report released by an independent fact-checking organisation set up by human rights groups.
A court in Central Jakarta today acquitted Delpedro Marhaen, who works for the Lokataru Foundation, a non-governmental organisation providing legal aid for protesters. Delpedro was widely considered to be the face of the protests after his arrest in September.
Three others, including Delpedro’s colleague and two other activists, were also acquitted.
The defendants were declared not guilty of inciting people to join the August protests, and were also acquitted on the charges of triggering riots by spreading fake news and hate speech through social media, the judge said.
The judge also ruled they had not incited minors to join the protests, thus absolving them of the charge of child exploitation.
“The ruling not only belongs to us but also belongs to all political prisoners… Imagine we have been arrested for six months but now we are proven not guilty,” said Delpedro after the trial, as he wrapped himself in an Iranian flag.
A rights group known as the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence called the ruling an “oasis in the rollback of Indonesia’s democracy”.
Another group, Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, described the verdicts as a small victory for civil liberties but said the government must act to protect freedom of expression.
The protests were President Prabowo Subianto’s first test since his landslide election victory in 2024, analysts have said.
The unrest has been described as the worst since 1998, when student protests led to the toppling of former president Suharto and three decades of authoritarian rule.
