Bangkok, March 27, 2025—Indonesia must identify and bring to account police officers who forced two journalists — one of whom they beat on the head — to delete photos and videos they shot during a protest on March 24, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
About 1,000 demonstrators threw stones and clashed with police, who responded with water cannons, in the eastern city of Surabaya, over a new law that increases the power of the military.
“It is the Indonesian government’s responsibility to protect, not assault, working journalists who are covering protests,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “These types of assaults on the free press must stop now.”
Rama Indra, a journalist with the local digital outlet Beritajatim, told CNN that several police officers forced him to stop filming them beating protesters and hit his head with their hands and a wooden stick to make him delete his footage. They also confiscated his cell phone, even though he identified himself as a journalist and presented his press ID card. He reported the incident to the police.
Police also forced Wildan Pratama, a journalist with the local digital outlet Suara Surabaya, to delete his photos of about 25 arrested protesters at the same site.
The military law has triggered protests across Indonesia, with some fearing a return to military rule.
On March 23, at least eight student journalists were assaulted by police and military forces while documenting a similar protest in the East Java city of Malang, according to a local Tempo report.
CPJ’s emailed requests to the Surabaya police and Presidential Communications Office for comment did not receive immediate replies.