Twenty three farmers and three activists of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) have been arrested in connection with violent protests in Palembang, South Sumatra, police confirmed on Wednesday.

Police arrested the protesters as they demolished the fences of the South Sumatera regional police office.

The farmers staged the protests after a police officer from the Ogan Ilir regency allegedly destroyed a prayer hall built on a plot of land disputed between farmers from Betung, a village in Ogan Ilir and state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) VII.

Farmers want the company to return a total 850 hectares of land it has occupied since the 1970s. They also want South Sumatera Police chief Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan to suspend Ogan Ilir Police chief Comr. Dheni Darmapala.

"We urge Bapak Kapolda to discharge the Ogan Ilir police chief as he committed a violent crime. He demolished a mushola [prayer hall] belonging to people in the area," said director of WALHI South Sumatera, Anwar Sadat.