Illustrative photo via Pexels
A student-and-worker protest in Yogyakarta on November 10, Indonesia’s Heroes’ Day, ended in overnight clashes with police and a wave of detentions, prompting National Police chief General Suyudi Ario Seto to travel to the city early the next morning.
The march was organised by the Aliansi Jogja Memanggil (Jogja Calls Alliance) coalition. Its demands were local: raise the Special Region of Yogyakarta’s minimum wage to Rp4.6 million a month (the alliance puts the current level at around Rp2.5 million), crack down on street thuggery, and repair the Mandala Krida stadium.
In the afternoon, Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, the region’s governor, met the protesters outside his office and sat on the ground with students. He said wages are set by a wage council using a national formula, that he was not aware of organised thuggery, and that a full rebuild of the stadium could not begin before 2028 because central-government funding is released in stages.
According to the Yogyakarta regional police, the protest was orderly until about 7pm. From around 8pm, police said, some people threw firecrackers, Molotov cocktails and stones at the regional parliament building. Clashes moved toward the Tugu monument and the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) roundabout. Police said the confrontation took place outside the campus. Police reported seizing six Molotov bottles, 12 firecrackers, seven bottles of petrol, a sharp weapon and a slingshot.
Numbers have shifted through the night. Police first said 94 people had been detained, later reports put the figure at 106, and by Wednesday morning a police spokesperson gave a total of 154, according to Tribunnews. The legal status of those held was not clear in the reporting we reviewed.
General Suyudi, accompanied by House deputy speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, visited the regional parliament and met some of those detained. He said police would identify who brought Molotovs and weapons and look into whether the crowd had been deliberately mobilised. He added that no link to protests elsewhere could yet be drawn. UGM said it would provide legal assistance to affected students and cover their medical costs.
Our analysis
The demands that brought people out were about money and basic public services, not national politics. Yogyakarta’s minimum wage is among the lowest in Java, while the city’s cost of living keeps rising with tourism and student demand. That gap has fuelled protests here for years.
How the arrests are handled will matter more than the clashes themselves. With the detention count shifting from 94 to 154 within hours, the police and the provincial government owe the public a clear account of who is being held, on what basis, and how quickly families and lawyers can reach them.
Sources: Tribunnews, Headline.co.id. Sections marked “Our analysis” are Irrawaddy Media’s independent assessment. Photo: Pexels (illustrative).
