On Friday, demonstrations intensified following the killing of Affan Kurniawan, a motorcycle taxi driver who was deliberately run over in central Jakarta. Affan was not part of the protest; he had gone to deliver a food order in the area when he was struck. His death, captured on video and widely shared online, ignited outrage that brought tens of thousands more into the streets — not only in the capital but also in Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and other cities across the archipelago.
The incident galvanized youth who had already been mobilizing since Monday, turning the protests into a mass movement. Hundreds of fellow delivery workers escorted Affan’s funeral procession through central Jakarta in a caravan, chanting “Murderers! Murderers!”
By Friday, Jakarta was nearly paralyzed. Schools suspended classes, banks and companies shifted staff to remote work, major highways and avenues were blocked, the stock exchange tumbled, and the rupiah, the local currency, depreciated.
The protests have centered on Parliament — where anger first erupted over lawmakers’ privileges — and Police Headquarters, the focus of rage against brutal crackdowns and mass arrests. Near the police complex, a five-story building was set ablaze. In Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, demonstrators stormed the provincial government building amid street battles. In Bandung and Medan, police used tear gas and arrested hundreds.
President Prabowo Subianto, a former army general who took office in October 2024, addressed the nation in a recorded video, calling Affan’s death a tragedy and promising a “thorough and transparent” investigation, with assurances that “those responsible will be held accountable.” Police leadership apologized to the family, announced that seven officers had been suspended, and confirmed they are under 20-day detention while being investigated. Jakarta’s governor, Pramono Anung, also visited the family to express condolences.
On Sunday, Prabowo added that Indonesia’s political parties had agreed to roll back some of the state-funded perks enjoyed by lawmakers in an effort to calm nationwide protests. At the same time, he warned that he had ordered police and the armed forces to take firm action against looting and property damage.
Despite these gestures, repression has continued much as before. Riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons at protesters, who responded with stones, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails. The army has been deployed at several flashpoints, and the number of arrests has already surpassed 600.
The unrest was initially sparked by revelations that the country’s 580 legislators had voted themselves a “housing allowance” of 50 million rupiah per month (about $3,000) — roughly ten times Jakarta’s minimum wage and twenty times the minimum wage in poorer provinces. This comes as millions of Indonesians struggle with rising food prices and poverty wages. Popular anger, however, has been building for much longer: since late 2024, the country has seen repeated waves of mass protest, and the movement has only grown through 2025.
Originally published in Spanish on August 30 in La Izquierda Diario