Indonesia graft protest turns violent outside parliament

An Indonesian protest demanding harsher punishment for corrupt officials turned violent outside parliament in Jakarta on Thursday after thousands had marched on the legislature.

As night fell and most protesters had dispersed, demonstrators hurled projectiles at police, who fired tear gas and used a water cannon on the group. An AFP reporter saw protesters set fire to a police booth and a motorcycle, and saw several people carried away on stretchers.

Earlier, riot police kept protesters outside the closed gates of the legislature, where they displayed a long red-and-white national flag and hung a banner reading: “The corrupt get rich while the people suffer.” Some protesters tried to break down the gate, while others threw trash and objects over it and tended burning trash pyres in the street.

Jakarta police said earlier that 18,500 officers had been deployed to secure the capital's streets amid public anger over economic hardship and inequality. Police also said they had detained 65 people ahead of the march on suspicion of being “provocateurs”, and said some allegedly had Molotov cocktails.

The demonstrators want parliament to pass a bill, pending since 2008, that would allow the seizure of assets from corrupt officials. Some at the rally also called for the death penalty for corrupt officials.

They also demanded an end to the government's costly free school meals programme, a signature project of President Prabowo Subianto that has faced graft allegations and mass food poisonings.

Dian Purnomo, a 50-year-old author at the protest, said the government needed to “wake up” and provide what people need. Asep, a 41-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, said he wanted labour protections as well as asset forfeiture and the death penalty for corrupt officials.

The protest came almost a year after nationwide demonstrations over lawmakers' perks erupted into riots in which a dozen people were killed and thousands arrested.

Indonesia scored 34 out of 100 on Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.