Five Student Journalists Arrested While Covering Sexual Harassment Protest at Hasanuddin University Makassar

“The police arrived and took action quickly, arresting several students in the FIB corridor and elsewhere on campus,” Kifli explained.

Around 30 students were initially detained by the police and taken to the Unhas Rectorate Building before being transferred to the Makassar Police Headquarters.

While most of the detained students were released later that night, Nisa and Erik remain in custody.

According to Kifli, their continued detention appears to be directly tied to their roles as student journalists with Catatan Kaki. “We strongly condemn this action. It’s an attempt to obstruct journalistic work, which is a violation of press freedom,” Kifli stated.

In a separate incident later that night, a violent altercation occurred on the Unhas campus around 10:00 PM. A security guard, Sugiayanto, was reportedly attacked, sustaining bruises to his forehead. The police were initially alerted to the disturbance and responded by assisting the injured guard.

Just hours later, authorities received reports that students from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences had set fires and damaged campus property. This led to the police conducting a search of the FIB area. By 11:20 PM, the police’s Criminal Investigation Unit, in coordination with campus officials, had detained 32 students for questioning.

While the police have not found concrete evidence to directly link the detained students to the violence or property damage, they remain under investigation.

“At this stage, the students detained have not been proven to be responsible for the violence. They were present at the scene, and we are continuing to investigate,” said Devi Sujana, Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit at the Makassar Police.