President Prabowo Subianto claimed Wednesday to know who funds the country's recent demonstrations but declined to name any of them. He made the claim at the 17th National Farmers and Fishers Week Summit in Limboto, Gorontalo, where the audience responded with applause and laughter. "Watch out, I'm warning them. I know who's funding the protests. I know it," Prabowo said.
He also suggested that demonstrators are paid only 200,000 rupiah without understanding what they're protesting. State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, seated behind him, laughed and shook his head.
Who actually paid?
A "protest funder" in Indonesian political parlance refers to someone who finances opposition movements. In the past week, the only documented money trail to emerge actually flowed in the opposite direction from Prabowo's narrative.
Muhammad Abdimaludin, head of the law faculty student council at Bung Karno University, admitted in an internal forum Monday night that he received payment to redirect student action from the Presidential Palace to the Parliament building. "I admit my mistake. I took the money. Twenty million rupiah, split among friends. It came from a police officer named Aan," he said. The university immediately suspended him from his position; Metro Jaya police requested clarification regarding the alleged involvement of the officer, and the identity of "Aan" remains officially unconfirmed.
The figures tell a stark story: Prabowo claimed demonstrators are paid 200,000 rupiah to protest. Abdimaludin's documented payment was 20 million rupiah to not protest at the Palace. Only the second figure comes with a named source and direct admission from the recipient.
Why are unnamed claims risky?
When a head of state makes claims about protest funding, they normally require one of two outcomes: criminal prosecution of those accused or public verification of the facts. Without either, such claims risk shifting the debate from the substance of protesters' demands to suspicions about their motives.
Those demands have been concrete. The University of Indonesia student council, demonstrating at Bundaran HI on June 12, called for an end to budget waste and price reductions for basic goods and fuel. The national student organization PB PMII held a "Complete Cabinet Review" protest across more than 300 locations nationwide between June 22 and 24. Tensions already run high: in the same period, UGM students in Yogyakarta drove activist Budiman Sudjatmiko from campus, calling him a "traitor to reform."
Golkar Secretary-General Muhamad Sarmuji defended Prabowo's claim Thursday: "The President's indication was based on information he received. We have state officials who can detect these things." The comment confirms the claim rests on intelligence briefings but also acknowledges that the information has not entered formal legal proceedings.
The allegation that a police officer directed student protests also touches a broader debate over policing authority, including a pending revision to the Police Law that includes a "People's Police" clause. Prabowo has set no deadline for revealing the identities he claims to know.
