TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has criticized President Prabowo Subianto for likening journalists, observers, and civil society organizations to londo ireng (black Dutchmen). YLBHI Chairperson Muhammad Isnur considers Prabowo's remarks more than just a joke, viewing them as an attempt to brand critical groups as disloyal, foreign-backed entities, and implicitly, as traitors.
Isnur emphasized that any statement from the President carries political weight, given his position at the apex of government. He warned that labeling critics as londo ireng elevates the risk of state repression against these groups.
When journalists, observers, academics, and civil society groups are tagged as londo ireng, law enforcers, public officials, political loyalists, and government supporters may feel empowered to monitor, intimidate, restrict, and digitally harass them, Isnur warned. "Even to criminalize them," he added when contacted on Friday, July 24, 2026.
Isnur stressed that this threat is far from abstract, given that critical voices have repeatedly faced intimidation, violence, and criminalization. Public labeling by the Head of State only escalates those dangers.
"Once specific groups are branded as enemies of the state, surveillance will be viewed as reasonable, intimidation as necessary, and criminalization as justified in the name of stability," he said.
Addressing the President's public questioning of who finances journalists, analysts, and NGOs, Isnur argued that such rhetoric upends the fundamental relationship between the state and its citizens. After all, it is not the President who funds the public, but the people who pay the President's salary, benefits, and state facilities through taxes.
Therefore, citizens hold the sovereign right to scrutinize policy decisions, budget allocations, and the conduct of public officials. That right extends to investigating who finances political parties, government loyalists, and well-connected business networks.
"The people pay the President to uphold the constitution, not to decide who is permitted to criticize him," Isnur said.
Isnur cited Article 1, Paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, which establishes that sovereignty resides with the people, alongside Article 1, Paragraph (3), which defines Indonesia as a constitutional state under the rule of law. Accordingly, he maintained that the right to criticize is not a presidential concession, but an inherent expression of popular sovereignty.
"Democracy requires a free press, an independent judiciary, and a critical civil society. These three pillars are not governance disruptors, but safeguards against the arbitrary exercise of power," he said.
YLBHI called on journalists, academics, students, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations to forge stronger solidarity and refuse to yield to intimidation.
"The President is only a temporary mandate holder; the people and the constitution are the legitimate owners of this republic. The President must not turn the public mandate into a weapon against the people," Isnur declared.
During his address at the peak of the National Awakening Party's (PKB) 28th anniversary event on Thursday, July 23, 2026, Prabowo accused critical groups of acting as a modern form of londo ireng. The term, which historically refers to Indonesian soldiers who aided Dutch colonial rule, was directed at journalists, experts, and non-governmental organizations operating outside state control.
"We know there are Indonesians who are happy to serve and devote themselves to other nations. That is what we used to call 'londo ireng,' who fought with the Dutch against us," Prabowo said at the Jakarta Convention Center on Thursday night, July 23, 2026.
"These 'londo ireng' are still around, except now they wear different clothes. [They are] journalists, observers, activists, NGOs [non-governmental organizations]," he added.
Prabowo proceeded to question who funds NGOs and pays their electricity and phone bills, though he maintained that his administration does not oppose criticism.
Read: Prabowo Urged to Apologize for Calling Journalists 'Londo Ireng'
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