Indonesian police arrest dozens in anti-government protest

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - June 27, 2026 02:16 pm IST - Surabaya, Indonesia A protester is detained during a protest against government policies, including state budget spending, fuel price hike, free meals programme, and expanded military roles in civilian affairs, outside Grahadi State building in Surabaya, East Java province, Indonesia, on June 26, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Indonesian police have arrested dozens of protesters following a rally against President Prabowo Subianto’s policies in the country’s second-largest city, a rights group said on Saturday (June 27, 2026). Around 100 people gathered near a government building in Surabaya on Friday (June 26, 2026), AFP journalists estimated, to protest a fuel price hike and Prabowo’s flagship free meals scheme. Some demonstrators hurled rocks towards police and set fire to rubbish in the middle of the road, prompting officers to arrest them, the reporters saw. Twenty-four protesters were arrested, Fatkul Khoir, a coordinator at rights group KontraS Surabaya, told AFP on Saturday (June 26, 2026). Police questioned them until 3:30 a.m. on Saturday (June 27, 2026) but did not charge them, he said. Surabaya police chief Luthfie Sulistiawan told reporters late on Friday (June 26, 2026) that officers had taken “firm actions” to push back protesters after some threw projectiles. He said there had been “dozens” of arrests but did not specify the number. Protests erupted in several Indonesian cities this month after Prabowo’s administration raised prices of non-subsidised gasoline by around 30%, seeking to ease budgetary pressures as the West Asia war weighs on global oil supplies. Thousands of students took to the streets in the capital Jakarta to oppose both the fuel price hikes and to demand a halt to the multi-billion-dollar free meals scheme. The initiative has been a cornerstone of Prabowo’s political agenda but has received widespread criticism for being wasteful and linked to mass food poisonings. It has since been partly suspended. Indonesia’s biggest unrest since Prabowo took office in 2024 came in August and September, when nationwide protests took place initially over lavish perks for lawmakers. However, they spiralled into an outburst of anger against security forces after a police vehicle ran over a delivery driver and killed him. Rights groups said those protests resulted in 10 deaths and thousands of arrests, though most people have since been released. Indonesia / unrest, conflicts and war / armed conflict Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Indonesian police arrest dozens in anti-government protest

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Indonesian police arrest dozens in anti-government protest

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