Ervana Trikarinaputri, Ahmad Faiz Ibnu Sani, Jakarta – Hundreds of people from various backgrounds attended the latest Kamisan movement before President Joko Widodo or Jokowi steps down on October 20, 2024. Wearing all black, the crowd gathered across from the Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, October 17, 2024.
Based on Tempo's observations, this Kamisan movement started around 3:33 p.m. Hundreds of people formed a semicircle across from the State Palace where Jokowi works. Dozens of police officers were also seen guarding the edge of the crowd. This 836th Kamisan Movement is considered monumental, considering President-elect Prabowo Subianto – a former military officer suspected of human rights violations – will be inaugurated this Sunday.
Human rights activist and lawyer Asfinawati said that the Kamisan activists had agreed that this time's action would be the last time they send a letter to the country's leader.
"It doesn't make sense for us to give a letter to the president to resolve human rights violations if the human rights violator is the president himself," said Asfinawati at the Kamisan Movement held across from the Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
She stated that this Kamisan Movement is an end to a new beginning. Asfinawati sees Prabowo's inauguration next Sunday as a new chapter of democracy hijacking in the country. "Crime is no longer on the sidelines, that crime does not sneak in at night," she said. But that crime will be inaugurated openly as the top person in Indonesia's presidential system."
Agreeing with Asfinawati, the initiator of the Kamisan Movement and human rights activist Maria Catarina Sumarsih emphasized that the activists will no longer send letters to the president to request the resolution of human rights violation cases. "Starting next Thursday, we will no longer send letters to the president," said Sumarsih.
She explained that during Jokowi's term, the Kamisan Movement activists sent 476 letters. Meanwhile, during the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY, they sent 339 letters. "Perhaps that's why we are not sending letters to the President of the Republic of Indonesia like we do every Thursday," she said.
Hundreds of activists, human rights advocates, students, and families of past human rights violation victims attended the last Kamisan Movement during Jokowi's administration. Representatives from organizations such as the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), and Imparsial were also present.