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View all search resultsPrison term sought for Riau student activist over edited protest post
University of Riau student Khariq Anhar allegedly committed an unlawful act by altering a news article headline that prosecutors deem contributed to August 2025 anti-government protests that led to nationwide unrest.
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Activists display posters reading “Criminalizing Protesters = Evidence of Silencing“ and “Stop Silencing the People's Voice“ on March 6 at the Central Jakarta District Court when the court acquitted activists Delpedro Marhaen Rismansyah, Khariq Anhar, Muzaffar Salim and Syahdan Husein in their trial for incitement in relation to the anti-government protests in August-September 2025. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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rosecutors have demanded a six-month prison sentence for a student activist over an edited social media post linked to protests in August 2025, raising concerns about continued suppression of critical voices against the government.
During a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday, Attorney General’s Office (AGO) prosecutors accused University of Riau student Khariq Anhar of unlawfully altering a screenshot of a news article and posting the edit on Instagram using the account @aliansimahasiswapenggugat.
Prosecutors said Khariq deliberately altered a news report featuring comments from Labor Party chair Said Iqbal, who urged anarchist groups, students and universities’ student executive bodies not to join a street protest planned by labor groups for Aug. 28 last year.
Khariq allegedly changed the wording of the article’s headline to suggest that Iqbal had instead urged the groups to join the protest, describing it as a movement of the people, and posted the altered screenshot to the student groups’ social media accounts.
“We [demanded the court] sentence the defendant to six months in prison, with the period of arrest and pretrial detention already served deducted from the sentence, while ordering the defendant remain in custody,” one of the prosecutors said in Monday’s hearing.
Read also: Freedom of expression under threat as more activists face intimidation
