The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders - a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) - together with the undersigned organisations, strongly urges the Central Jakarta District Court to immediately quash the charges against Indonesian human rights defenders Delpedro Marhaen, Muzaffar Salim, Syahdan Husein, and Khariq Anhar. We also urge the Indonesian Government to cease its criminalisation of activists and human rights defenders. Rather than policing social media and weaponising laws to silence dissent, the government should focus on upholding people’s freedom of expression both online and offline.
Paris-Geneva, 6 March 2026. On 27 February 2026, prosecutors demanded a two-year prison sentence for the four human rights defenders. The Court is set to issue its decision on 6 March.
“The right to freedom of expression is one of the most fundamental rights in a democratic society. Indonesia could not maintain its position as a democratic nation when it weaponises its rule of law system to criminalise human rights defenders and activists for expressing dissent against government policies,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
What happened
Delpedro Marhaen serves as the Executive Director of Lokataru Foundation, an organisation specialising in human rights protection on civic liberties while Muzaffar Salim works as a staff member at Lokataru Foundation. Syahdan Husein and Khariq Anhar are university group activists.
In August 2025, Indonesia witnessed a series of mass protests following the state’s announcement of increased allowances for parliament members amidst mass layoffs and budget cuts across education and human rights sectors.
The protests were met with excessive force by both police and military, leading to more than ten deaths, 34 short-term enforced disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and at least 6,700 arbitrary arrests against civilians.
Following the protests, Delpedro Marhaen, Muzaffar Salim, Syahdan Husein, and Khariq Anhar were arrested and charged with incitement under Article 28 (3) and (45A) of the notorious Electronic Information and Transactions Law, incitement to defy public authorities under Article 246 of the Criminal Code, and sedition charges under Article 160 of the Criminal Code.
The charges stemmed from the accusation that they posted inflammatory content on social media, which then allegedly caused civil unrest and violence as well as damage to public facilities and injuries to police officers.
The police pointed out the Lokataru Foundation’s social media post, which details complaint centres and a hotline number students can use in case they experience violations, arbitrary arrests, or threats for joining the August protests. The post was meant to inform student protesters on their right to peaceful assembly and for the organisation to document any instances of unjust repression and provide assistance to protestors.
The allegations also included their use of hashtags #IndonesiaGelap (Dark Indonesia) and #ReformasiPolri (reform the police) which was alleged to have allowed confrontational narrative to reach a massive audience.
Criminalising human rights defenders
The cases against Mr Delpedro, Mr Muzaffar, Mr Syahdan, and Mr Khariq are not isolated.
Over 6,719 people were arrested, with 703 individuals currently facing judicial proceedings for their involvement in the August 2025 protests, according to the data provided by Gerakan Muda Lawan Kriminalisasi under a civil society-led fact-finding commission initiated by FORUM-ASIA member organisations Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation and the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS). This marked the highest number of arrests and political prosecution against activists since the 1998 reform.
At least 70 individuals reportedly received payments to provoke the August 2025 protests by bringing firecrackers, molotov cocktails, and fireworks, the commission found. These individuals were affiliated with an organisation that helped campaign for Prabowo Subianto’s 2024 presidential bid.
The commission also noted a great imbalance of law enforcement given the criminalisation of students, youth activists, and human rights defenders rather than those who actually incited civil unrest.
This practice effectively creates a chilling effect for citizens and human rights defenders who are merely exercising their fundamental freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.
Call to action
The online posts made by Mr Delpedro, Mr Muzaffar, Mr Syahdan and Mr Khariq highlighted problematic government policies and human rights violations committed by State security actors. Hence the Court must consider how these expressions are protected under the Indonesian Constitution as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Indonesia is a party to.
The Court must interpret the law against incitement under the context of the limitation for freedom of expression. This would require the Court to follow the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality. Likewise, this should be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
As Indonesia currently holds the presidency of the United Nations Human Rights Council, it must set the highest standard of protection for human rights defenders.
