Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A human rights activist says he was fired from his position as a lecturer at a Defense Ministry-owned university after criticizing the government's decision to purchase Sukhoi fighter jets and Leopard tanks.

Al Araf, a director at Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), said he was abruptly dismissed from the Indonesian Defense University in Central Jakarta.

"The decision by the campus to ban me from teaching, I suspect, has to do with my criticism of the purchases," he said on Thursday. "When I asked [the university] about the decision they just said it was a direct order from the leader."

The Air Force has been on a spending spree, especially with the purchase of next-generation Sukhoi planes. It already operates 10 Sukhoi Su-27s and four Sukhoi Su-30MK2 jets, and recently announced an order for six more of the Su-30MK2s.

But activists, including Al Araf, have asked why the government has allocated $470 million for the six planes when, at $54.8 million each, the total price would be $328.8 million.

Defense officials have also said the country will buy 100 Leopard tanks from Germany after failing to purchase them from the Netherlands. The deal is worth $280 million. Politicians and activists have criticized the purchase, saying the country's geography requires slimmer, more agile tanks.

Al Araf's reported dismissal from the university quickly drew criticism from the House of Representatives. Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Mahfudz Siddiq called the university's move "excessive." Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Tjahjo Kumolo said the incident pointed to a worrying lack of democracy in the university.

"An intellectual [like Al Araf] stated his opinion based on a reasonable argument," he said. "If we allow this to happen, sooner or later a lawmaker could also be stripped of his rights to express an opinion."