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

MAKASSAR, RAKYAT NEWS – In a disturbing turn of events, five student journalists from Catatan Kaki (Caka), the student press organization at Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) Makassar of Indonesia , were arrested by police on November 28, 2024.

The journalists were covering a protest at the university’s Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) that demanded action in response to a sexual harassment case involving a faculty member. The five detained individuals were identified as Nisa, Erik, Fajar, Unding, Hanan.

The protest had started at 3:00 PM and lasted until around 6:00 PM. It was organized by students who called for the dismissal of Professor Firman Saleh, accused of sexually harassing a student during a thesis supervision session. The journalists from Caka had been covering the protest since it began, and their role in documenting the event has been at the heart of their arrest.

Kifli, Secretary General of the Makassar Student Press Association (PPMI), confirmed that the five journalists were actively reporting on the demonstration.

“These journalists had been following the case since the harassment incident surfaced,” Kifli said.

Following the protest, the group of student journalists stayed behind to finish preparing their reports. They were waiting for the rain to ease before heading home.

However, as they waited, an unknown group of individuals arrived at the scene and began throwing stones at the campus, breaking windows at FIB.

Shortly after the incident, several plainclothes police officers arrived on the scene. They began detaining students who were still in the vicinity, including Nisa, Fajar, Unding, Hanan, and Erik. Some students were also taken from their press office.

“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.

The arrest of the student journalists has sparked widespread concern about the freedom of the press and the right to report on public matters without fear of retaliation. Supporters of the journalists have called for their immediate release, emphasizing the importance of protecting journalistic integrity and the ability to report on sensitive issues such as sexual harassment without interference.(Uki Ruknuddin)