Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – The Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, stated that the government does not need to form an independent investigation team to probe the mass protest accompanied by riots in the last week of August 2025. Yusril's reason is that the perpetrators have been detained and questioned by law enforcement.
Yusril ensures that the police have already arrested individuals suspected of involvement in the riots during the protests at the end of August 2025. He said that establishing a joint fact-finding team (TGPF) would take time, both assembling people and waiting for them to gather facts. Meanwhile, according to Yusril, the facts are already clear, and the legal process is already underway in law enforcement.
"So, instead of waiting a long time for the formation of TGPF, I think it is better to use the existing law enforcement officers. It works faster than waiting for a long time. Unless, for example, the country is silent, does nothing, then the TGPF can be formed," said Yusril at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday, September 11, 2025.
Previously, civil society had urged the government to form an independent team or TGPF to investigate the riots during the mass protests, which took place from August 25, 2025, to early September. Civil society recorded 10 deaths during the protests, including motorcycle taxi driver Affan Kurniawan, who was killed by a police tactical vehicle of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in Pejompongan Street, Central Jakarta, on Thursday night, September 28, 2025.
President Prabowo Subianto responded to the demands. Prabowo considered the proposal to form an independent investigation team to be a sensible step. "I think that's reasonable. I think it can be discussed, and we will see what form it will take," said Prabowo at a meeting with several mass media leaders in Hambalang, West Java, on Saturday, September 6, 2025, as quoted from his written statement.
Prabowo mentioned that, of all the aspirations of the people that he absorbed, some were reasonable. But some other aspirations still need to be debated.
"We will study, some are reasonable, some we can negotiate, and we can debate. I think many are reasonable. Many, in my opinion, are normative and we can discuss them well," said Prabowo.
Prabowo said the people's proposals that can still be debated are about the withdrawal of the military from civilian security. "If withdrawing the military from civilian security, then it is for the people to judge whether this is reasonable or not, right?"
According to Prabowo, the main duty of the military is to protect the people from various threats. Therefore, the demand to withdraw the military from security needs to be debated.
"So, terrorism is a threat, arson is a threat, and creating riots is a threat to the people. Should the military be withdrawn from civilian security? That, to me, is debatable," said Prabowo.