Roy Adriansyah, Reza Hery Pamungkas, Dayat, Jakarta – Jakarta police have detained dozens of people suspected of planning to cause unrest ahead of a demonstration outside the parliament complex on Thursday, as authorities tightened security across the capital.
Police have deployed 18,504 personnel to secure the parliament complex and other strategic locations in Jakarta, seeking to prevent a repeat of last year's unrest.
According to a Beritasatu.com report, the suspects were detained after police patrols around the complex found items that could potentially be used to cause violence or disrupt public order, Jakarta Metropolitan Police said.
Officers seized bottles and flammable liquids, including gasoline, as well as bladed weapons such as machetes and sickles. Several airsoft guns were also confiscated.
The identities and affiliations of those detained were not immediately disclosed. Police said they were being questioned as investigators sought to determine who owned the items and how they were intended to be used.
The detentions came as protesters from Central Java, coordinated by the Pati United Community Alliance (AMPB), gathered outside parliament in Senayan to demand the passage of an asset-forfeiture bill and call for the death penalty for corruptors.
Police also screened people heading to the parliament complex on Thursday morning. Several groups walking along Jalan Gerbang Pemuda in Senayan were stopped at checkpoints and searched before being allowed to proceed.
Officers said they found no dangerous items during the checks, although they confiscated several bamboo poles that protesters had brought to hold flags.
Tensions briefly flared outside the parliament complex later in the day when protesters clashed with municipal public order officers (Satpol PP) who were attempting to remove a street vendor from the demonstration area.
The officers faced resistance from protesters who tried to prevent them from carrying out the removal. The situation escalated into pushing and shouting, with some protesters seen throwing bottles and plastic water containers at the officers.
Some demonstrators also hurled verbal abuse at the officers. The confrontation threatened to escalate further before the officers withdrew and abandoned the attempt to remove the vendor.
The clash was short-lived, with both sides eventually moving away from each other and the situation returning to normal.
The heightened security comes almost a year after protests in Jakarta and several other Indonesian cities escalated into deadly unrest.