Maria Catarina Sumarsih stood in front of Presidential Palace on Thursday to perform her weekly kamisan, a silent protest every Thursday (Kamis) to demand that the government resolve past human rights abuse cases, despite a new regulation prohibiting demonstration at the site.

Dressed in black, grasping a worn-out black umbrella, Maria emphasized that under no condition would she agree to stop performing kamisan in front of the palace, except if the government solved the 1998 Semanggi shooting incident, which resulted in the death of her son, Bernardus Realino Norma Irawan.

'€œThis new regulation tried to suppress our freedom of speech, we will still stand here every Thursday no matter what it says,'€ Maria told The Jakarta Post.

The police, however, announced that it was their last kamisan in front of the palace. Gambir Police Mobile Brigade head Comr. Warsito said that the police would let the protesters perform kamisan this week because the protesters may not yet have heard about the new gubernatorial regulation.

'€œHowever, this week will be their last and next week we will relocate them to the National Monument,'€ he said.

Maria said the gubernatorial regulation was a way for the city administration to move a demonstration to an irrelevant place that would reduce the context.

On Oct. 28, Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnawa issued Gubernatorial Regulation No. 228/2015 on the control of free speech in public spaces. The newly issued regulation, however, has been criticized by human rights groups who argue that it restricts public protest.

Article 4 of the regulation stipulates that protestors are allowed to stage protests at only three venues: Parkir Timur Senayan at the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Alun Alun Demokrasi (Democracy Plaza) located at the House of Representatives complex and Silang Selatan (Southern Cross), and at the National Monument (Monas) park. All three areas are located in Central Jakarta and are rarely used as protest sites.

Articles 5 and 6 of the regulation also state that protests should be conducted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and that the noise level of the sound system should not exceed more than 60 decibels. Meanwhile, articles 13, 14 and 15 gives power to Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), police and military forces, to disperse a rally if it committed any violation.

Thursday was the 418th week that human rights groups and family members of victims have performed kamisan since January 2006, hoping the government would one day remember its duty to protect the country'€™s citizens.

'€œPolice officers have been trying to move us away from here for years, but we stand tall. The point of us performing kamisan here is so that the President can see us,'€ Syahar Banu said.

Syahar is the daughter of Aminattun Najariyah who was jailed for months without trial as the police accused her of being involved in Tanjung Priok Tragedy in 1984. Dozens of civilians died during the tragedy when the Army shot wildly at protesters who demanded that four fellow civilians, detained by the subdistrict military command (Koramil), be released.

She felt that it was groundless for the city administration to say that demonstrations needed to be restricted because they often caused traffic jams on main roads.

'€œJakarta does not have the best traffic in the world and the effective way to fix it is by providing better public transportation, not regulating demonstrations,'€ she said.

Maria and Syahar said today would not be their last kamisan in front of the Presidential Palace.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) has expressed its intention to file a petition with the Constitutional Court, against the regulation, saying that all citizens are entitled to convey their thoughts in public spaces, and are protected by the law.

Popular

What Indonesia can learn from the Iran–Israel war

Police seek to polish image with new video platform amid public distrust

Two arrested in North Sumatra for allegedly producing vape liquid laced with narcotics