Indonesia, September 18, 2025, by XIII-XII.
After the mass action that took place at the end of August and early
September, a wave of mass arrests followed, with thousands of people
being detained across various cities in Indonesia — both post-action
arrests and sweeps from those already arrested. Even now, various
anti-authoritarian groups in Indonesia are experiencing widespread
paranoia, which is understandable for some people due to the state’s
cyber operations aimed at mapping both formal and informal
anti-authoritarian cells. Several collective and individual names have
already been collected, which only adds to the paranoid climate that
continues to persist. Some refer to this as “going underground,” or even
as an individual safety method, to later continue efforts for solidarity
with comrades who have been designated as suspects. The state has
labeled anarchists as the masterminds behind all the mass actions that
took place in various cities. For example, in Bandung, the authorities
have designated 42 protesters as suspects, and in Jakarta, 16 people
have been labeled as suspects. This doesn’t even account for other
cities that have not yet been verified. All those who are detained face
obstacles in accessing legal assistance, and torture is not spared
during interrogation and examination.
In a press conference held by the authorities some time ago, they stated
that there is a connection between anarchists in Indonesia and
international anarchist networks. They also raised concerns about the
flow of funds traced from digital wallets as money for chaos, even
reporting amounts up to tens or even hundreds of millions of rupiah — a
figure that seems quite unreasonable. They have also used various books,
zines, and pamphlets as evidence of anarchist actions. All of this has
been criminalized under a new form of terrorism in Indonesia. However,
logically speaking, the state is openly the true terrorist to the
oppressed people of Indonesia, through land grabs, low wages, unequal
education, media suppression, activist killings, and so on. These
criminalization efforts are also actions to scapegoat alternative
methods for sustaining life without the grip of the state and its
apparatus.
Today, in Indonesia, we have entered a new phase — after the ghosts of
communism and the Jakarta method — in hunting anarchists, or even any
movements that are seen as disturbing the stability and interests of the
state. Everyone is an individual with the potential to be criminalized
by the state. Therefore, to anyone reading this, continue to raise
solidarity for the political prisoners of August-September so they know
they are not alone. Long live resistance, long live anarchy!
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Important Information from Indonesia for International Comrades
After some time following the large-scale demonstrations across various
parts of the archipelago, the lack of information from our comrades who
have been arrested for their actions has been a difficult challenge for
us.
Firstly, the lack of communication from our comrades who have been
arrested and charged stems from communication restrictions imposed by
the pigs. They were even denied legal assistance and communication with
their families for approximately two weeks. This was confirmed as part
of the effort to investigate the motives behind the charges.
Then, suddenly, the pigs held a press conference and invited various
local media outlets to cover everything, even releasing the names of
those who had been charged to the public.
In the information released, particularly regarding those arrested by
the West Java Police Headquarters, our comrades are being processed by
two divisions: general crime (26 people) and cybercrime (16 people).
These pigs have identified anarchist-egoist-nihilist subjects as a new
source of threat in Indonesia, especially due to their alleged
connection to international networks.
For everyone’s safety, if anyone has had, or is still in correspondence
with Black Bloc Zone or Contemplative Publishing, we recommend stopping
this immediately, as these two names have been identified as key actors
by the pigs. It is highly likely that their websites, Instagram
accounts, or even their Signal accounts are still under investigation.
Stay safe and don’t be deceived!
For Black International!
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Chronology of the New Wave of Arrests (“The Hunt for the Egoists”)
1. Trigger event – The group around comrade Acil (Itenas – university of Bandung, West Java). Acil was arrested after posting on social media about an Indonesian flag burning
2. First link – From Acil’s case, police traced and arrested 8 people from Kiara Condong area where they had uploaded content showing them making and throwing molotovs.
3. Network expansion – Adit (UIN – Uni in Bandung) and Opal (Cijerah/Ciparay area) were also arrested. It’s unclear if they were directly linked to Acil, but their arrest opened a new line of investigation.
4. Start of the manhunt – Through intense Instagram communications between Adit and Opal, police began mapping further connections.
5. Initial mapping – Authorities identified links between Egoist accounts, funding sources, and physical evidence (molotovs, etc). From this chain, Pem (lives in Ciamis-West Java) was arrested.
6. Next wave – Arrests continued with Katong Press (Komar, East Java). followed by Dana, Herdi (Palang Hitam/ABC Indonesia), and Abu from Makassar. Katong Press is the name of an anarchist collective.
7. Shift in Legal Framing- Investigators begin applying the Anti-Terrorism Law, citing:
Suspected foreign funding,
Acts of arson
Confessions from detainees admitting to destruction during protests.
8. Information Leak – From Dana’s case, additional leads emerged, targeting networks in Bogor and Tangerang (West Java).
Preliminary Mitigations Notes Scope:
So far, only the “Egoist wave” is clearly mapped but further arrest waves remain uncertain. The ages of those arrested is teenagers and 20s predominately so far. It is impossible for our group to count all the anarchists arrested, there’s no one big organisation. Just loose cells and individuals. But those universities mentioned are sanctuaries of most anarchists. These universities were attacked and raided by police during the clashes. At the moment there are many anarchists concentrated in the central police station of Bandung.
14/9/25
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16 comrades arrested for Molotov attacks
According to corporate media dated 15 September 2025, 16 people were arrested almost simultaneously in various places around Jakarta and accused of Molotov attacks. The scale of the operation and the evidence gathered (CCTV footage, phone conversations, looted items, etc) is very serious.
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More updates coming…