Jakarta, 28 October (Youth Pledge Day): students are held at police barricades on Jalan Sudirman in front of the UOB building short of Bundaran HI, with pushing and shoving at about 15:55 WIB — several students reportedly fainted, and no arrests are reported

Safety & SecurityIssued: October 28, 2026

The national action called by BEM UI and the Komite Sadar alliance on Wednesday 28 October 2026, Youth Pledge Day, is under way in central Jakarta. It is centred on Bundaran HI, with Polda Metro Jaya also naming the DPR/MPR building, Monas and Tugu Tani. Crowds began gathering from about 14:00–14:30 WIB, and students from the University of Indonesia, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta, Universitas Pancasila and other groups were stopped by police barricades on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in front of the UOB building, short of Bundaran HI. At about 15:55 WIB the situation heated up with pushing and shoving between students and police, and one outlet reports a video that appears to show an officer hitting a student's head, which is alleged and not confirmed. Several students reportedly fainted in the crush at about 14:00 WIB and were treated by medics from among the demonstrators; the reports we read, up to 16:32 WIB, mention no arrests, and none says tear gas was fired, although a NU Online reporter described police carrying two launchers as tear-gas launchers. This entry describes the position as of about 16:40 WIB on 28 October; the action was still going on, and it will be updated.

Timeline

Tue 20 Oct, evening
At Tugu Tani, BEM UI chairman Yatalathof Imawan reads a statement titled 'Aksi Indonesia Sadar' calling a national action in Jakarta on Wednesday 28 October, Youth Pledge Day (Kompas.com, 21:33 WIB; see our entry on the 20 October demonstration).
Wed 28 Oct, 05:29 WIB
Kontan reports that the action, under the tag #IndonesiaSadar, is led by BEM UI with other student groups and civil society, that workers and farmers are expected to join, and that it will gather at Bundaran HI at 14:00 WIB. No labour union or farmers' group is named.
Wed 28 Oct, 10:19 WIB
Suara.com reports four action points named by Polda Metro Jaya — the DPR/MPR building, Bundaran HI, Monas and Tugu Tani — and that Komite Sadar groups the student bodies of BEM UI, KM ITB, SEMA UGM, BEM Undip, EM UB, BEM KM Unnes, BEM Unair and the Unpad BEM alliance. Kombes Pol Firman Darmansyah, Jakarta's traffic police director, says traffic engineering is ready and situational, focusing on the Sudirman–Thamrin lanes, with 1,249 traffic officers.
Wed 28 Oct, 11:16 WIB
Liputan6 reports joint TNI, police, transport department and Satpol PP personnel guarding Bundaran HI, with Brimob tactical vehicles and ambulances on standby, and traffic busy but flowing. Police urge people to avoid the area, use alternative routes and follow @tmcpoldametrojaya.
Wed 28 Oct, about 14:00 WIB
TNI and police block the crowd from entering the area around Bundaran HI on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman. A NU Online reporter sees police carrying two launchers, which the article presents as tear-gas launchers although an officer, asked, called them dangerous real weapons (no firing is reported), and an officer says the area must be 'sterile'; people arrive in waves, among them people with Serikat Tahanan Politik Indonesia and Front Mahasiswa Nasional flags and BEM UI deputy chair Fathimah Azzahra with 15 to 20 students (NU Online, 15:15 WIB). Katadata says crowds began gathering at 14:30 WIB, under the theme 'Prabowo Gibran, Ini Lima Perintah Rakyat! Tepati atau Pergi!', and that traffic on Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Jenderal Sudirman was affected (16:10 WIB).
Wed 28 Oct, about 14:00–14:18 WIB
The crowd reaches Jalan Sudirman in front of the UOB building at about 14:18 WIB (iNews, 15:00 WIB). Jakarta Central police chief Kombes Pol Reynold Hutagalung comes to tell the students they cannot go to Bundaran HI and will be facilitated at another pre-designated place; the students argue and reject this, and the reports do not give the outcome (iNews; NU Online Jakarta, 15:00 WIB). Several students reportedly faint in the crush around 14:00 WIB and are treated by medics from among the demonstrators; the report mentions neither tear gas nor arrests. Akurat reports police barricades up to five layers deep (15:56 WIB).
Wed 28 Oct, 15:29–15:32 WIB
Amnesty International Indonesia's executive director Usman Hamid asks police not to be repressive and to lift the ban on peaceful action at Bundaran HI, saying it lacks a basis in legality, necessity and proportionality; the article does not say who imposed the ban. National police chief Suyudi Ario Seto says all personnel securing the protests will wear body cameras and are told to prioritise a humane, dialogue-based approach (IDN Times, 15:29 WIB). Kompas.com reports students of Politeknik Negeri Jakarta, Universitas Pancasila and the University of Indonesia held by a barricade on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in front of the UOB building, shouting 'Revolusi'; one participant says the group left Depok shortly after 13:00 (15:32 WIB).
Wed 28 Oct, about 15:55 WIB
The action heats up as police block students in front of the UOB building and the students try to push forward, with pushing and shoving (IDN Times, 16:27 WIB). IDN Times also reports a video that appears to show a police officer hitting a student's head, and its reporters saying they saw an alleged beating; the visible text of the article has no police response and no name for the officer. Jenderal Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo, head of the Presidential Staff Office, urges protesters to stay orderly, avoid provocation and violence, and says his office is ready to receive their aspirations. One outlet, Editor Indonesia (updated 16:32 WIB), reports that some University of Indonesia students split up, used several roads and reached the Bundaran HI pool, where they gave speeches; other reports we read have the main crowd still held at the barricade.
Wed 28 Oct, 16:10 WIB
Katadata lists the five demands of the action: (1) declare a national disaster status, prosecute the corporations responsible and complete land-governance integration; (2) direct the state budget to the public interest and stop wasteful populist spending, naming the free-meals programme (MBG) and KDMP; (3) lower education costs, give equal access to basic services and create quality jobs; (4) stop the use of the law to abuse power and eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism; and (5) restore freedom of expression, prosecute human-rights violators and stop the militarisation of civil spaces.

Key points

Status at about 16:40 WIB on 28 October: the action was still going on. The students from the University of Indonesia, Politeknik Negeri Jakarta and Universitas Pancasila were still held at the barricade on Jalan Jenderal Sudirman in front of the UOB building as of the last report we read (Kompas.com, 15:32 WIB). Several students reportedly fainted around 14:00 WIB, and the reports we read up to 16:32 WIB mention no arrests.
Where: Polda Metro Jaya names four action points — the DPR/MPR building, Bundaran HI, Monas and Tugu Tani. Bundaran HI and Jalan Sudirman–Thamrin are the focus of traffic engineering, which police say is situational; 1,249 traffic officers were assigned. We did not find an official list of closed roads or notes on Transjakarta or MRT services.
Who: BEM UI and the Komite Sadar alliance of student bodies call it; reports say workers and farmers are expected to join but name no union or farmers' group, and a NU Online reporter saw people with Serikat Tahanan Politik Indonesia and Front Mahasiswa Nasional flags.
Police posture: the national police chief says officers will wear body cameras and use a humane, dialogue-based approach; Amnesty International Indonesia has asked for a ban on peaceful action at Bundaran HI to be lifted and for restraint. Whether tear gas or water cannon will be used is not reported.
Unconfirmed: the alleged beating of a student, as shown in a video reported by IDN Times, has no police response in the text we read, so we treat it as an allegation.
Japanese Embassy: we did not find a Japanese Embassy demonstration notice for 28 October at the time of writing; the Embassy's site cannot be read by automated fetch, so this means 'not found', not 'none issued'. The Embassy did issue a notice for the 20 October demonstration.

What this means for your Indonesian entity

If your office is on or near Jalan Sudirman, Jalan Thamrin or around Bundaran HI, or your staff pass through the area on the way home this evening, treat the area as unsettled until reports say otherwise: the action is still going on, there has been pushing and shoving, and a reporter saw police carrying launchers that NU Online describes as tear-gas launchers, although none is reported fired. Practical steps, which are our suggestions rather than police or Embassy instructions: (1) check TMC Polda Metro Jaya (@tmcpoldametrojaya) and the Embassy's safety information before anyone leaves; (2) avoid walking through or near the crowd on Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin, and let staff leave early, late or by a different route if their way home crosses the area; (3) if a gathering forms near your building, stay inside or move away from it, and do not film or approach officers; (4) tell staff who are not at the office to work from home tomorrow if the action is called to continue and their commute crosses the area. This is a safety and operations matter, not a compliance one. We are not a substitute for the Japanese Embassy's real-time advisories; follow them for street-level detail, and we will update this entry as the situation changes.

Sources

This page summarises publicly available information for orientation. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and regulations change. Verify against the linked primary sources and contact us before acting on anything here.

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