Anti-Prabowo banner in Indonesian university causes suspension, fuelling censorship fears

The university later reversed its decision to suspend three students amid public outrage over its move to stifle freedom of expression

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Surabaya’s Airlangga University students staging a protest earlier this year. Photo: Johannes Nugroho

Published: 6:00pm, 28 Oct 2024Updated: 8:01pm, 28 Oct 2024

Three university students in Indonesia have found themselves in hot water for putting up a banner denouncing President Prabowo Subianto and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, in what critics say could be the first high-profile case of censorship under the country’s new leadership.

Surabaya’s Airlangga University initially suspended the trio from the student council of the social sciences and politics faculty over the banner but later bowed to public outrage and reversed its decision. The banner was displayed in front of the university campus on October 22, two days after Prabowo and Gibran were inaugurated in Jakarta.

The message on the banner reads: “Congratulations on the inauguration of ruthless general Prabowo Subianto and ‘Professor 2.3 GPA’ Gibran Rakabuming as President and vice-president of Indonesia, elected through a corrupted constitutional process. Signed Mulyono [Wrecker of democracy].”

Explaining the reason for the suspension on October 25, Bagong Suyanto, dean of the social sciences and politics faculty, told This Week in Asia on Monday morning: “The student council must adhere to academic standards, instead of stooping to coarse diction and language. That’s not the academic culture we want to cultivate. This is our message.”

But in a U-turn on the same day, Bagong spoke to This Week in Asia again and said he decided to reinstate the students but cautioned them against the use of “coarse language” and called for their “adherence to academic culture”.

A banner put up by several students from Surabaya’s Airlangga University protesting against President Prabowo Subianto and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. Photo: Tuffahati Ullayyah Bachtiar

During the initial suspension, Tuffahati Ullayyah Bachtiar, the student council’s president, told This Week In Asia that she and two other members were informed on October 25 that they were suspended indefinitely over what the dean’s office referred to as their “unethical behaviour”.