An enraged mob torched a local parliament building in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, officials said Saturday.
The blaze broke out late Friday in Makassar, the provincial capital. Television footage showed the council building engulfed in flames, turning the night sky a glowing orange. By morning, rescuers had recovered three bodies, while five people were hospitalized with burns or injuries after leaping from the building, said local disaster official Fadli Tahar.
The violence spread to other cities. In West Java’s Bandung, protesters also set fire to a regional parliament building, though no casualties were reported. In Surabaya, the country’s second-largest city, demonstrators stormed the regional police headquarters after torching vehicles and tearing down fences. Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons, as protesters fought back using fireworks and wooden clubs.
Foreign embassies in Jakarta — including those of the United States, Australia, and several Southeast Asian nations — have urged their citizens to avoid protests and crowded public areas.
Calm returned to much of the capital by Saturday as authorities cleared the wreckage of torched police offices, buses, and cars. The unrest, however, continued elsewhere, following five days of nationwide protests sparked by revelations that all 580 lawmakers receive a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,075) on top of their salaries. The allowance, nearly 10 times Jakarta’s minimum wage, has fueled anger amid rising unemployment, soaring taxes, and mounting living costs.
Public fury deepened after the death of 21-year-old ride-hailing driver Affan Kurniawan, who was reportedly struck and killed by a police armored vehicle while delivering food in Jakarta on Thursday. A video of the incident went viral, sparking outrage against security forces. Witnesses said a police vehicle from the Mobile Brigade sped through a crowd of protesters, ran over Kurniawan, and failed to stop.
In Bali, hundreds of ride-hailing drivers and students staged a rare solidarity protest on Saturday, demanding police reform and the release of detainees. Marching toward the regional police headquarters, they clashed with riot police who fired tear gas, while protesters hurled rocks, bottles, and flares.
Violent demonstrations also flared across multiple cities on Friday, including Medan, Solo, Yogyakarta, Magelang, Malang, Bengkulu, Pekanbaru, and Manokwari in Papua. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said nearly 950 people were arrested in Jakarta by Thursday alone. Authorities reported that about 25 police officers were hospitalized with serious injuries, though Komnas HAM believes civilian casualties are much higher.
Amnesty International condemned the government’s response, accusing it of stifling free expression through excessive force. “No one should lose their lives for exercising their right to protest,” said Usman Hamid, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia. “The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for exercising their rights.”