The money was accepted anyway, regardless of whether the demand was met.
Student leader Muhammad Abdimaludin confessed to accepting Rp20 million from alumni via police to move protests from State Palace to alternative location. The bribe was distributed among BEM management and alumni; the university launched investigation into multiple students and suspended the BEM chair's status.
- Muhammad Abdimaludin, BEM FH UBK chair, admitted to accepting Rp20 million in bribes on June 15, 2026
- Alumni delivered the bribe via police to relocate the 'Restructuring Indonesia' protest from State Palace to Senayan
- Students rejected the relocation but accepted the money anyway
- University suspended Abdimaludin's student status on June 23, 2026, pending investigation
The Chair of Bung Karno University's Student Executive Board admitted to receiving Rp20 million in bribes from alumni to relocate a June 15 demonstration away from the State Palace. The university suspended him pending investigation.
Muhammad Abdimaludin, the chair of the Student Executive Board at Bung Karno University's Faculty of Law, recorded a confession video admitting he had accepted a bribe. The sum was twenty million rupiah, delivered through police intermediaries by alumni of the university. The money came with a clear condition: move the planned demonstration away from the State Palace in Jakarta.
On June 15, 2026, Abdimaludin had coordinated a protest titled "Restructuring Indonesia" at the Horse Statue area in central Jakarta. The alumni who funded the bribe wanted the demonstration relocated to the DPR, MPR, and DPD complex in Senayan instead—a less visible location. They also requested that student representatives agree to a closed mediation session with Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka at the Vice President's Palace after the march concluded. Abdimaludin and the broader BEM leadership rejected the relocation demand. The demonstration proceeded as planned at the Horse Statue. Yet the money was accepted anyway.
Abdimaludin distributed the twenty million rupiah among several recipients. He kept some for personal use, gave 2.5 million to two alumni, allocated two million to his deputy, two million to a person named Mubarak, and transferred two million to the Business Faculty's student board. The confession became public, and the university's administration moved swiftly. On June 23, 2026, Vice Rector Daniel Panda announced that Abdimaludin had been suspended from his student status, effective immediately. Under suspension, Abdimaludin could no longer represent the student board or the university in any capacity while the investigation proceeded.
The university's rectorate indicated it would examine multiple witnesses and other students suspected of involvement. The management of both the Law Faculty and Business Faculty student boards would be cross-checked. Panda stated that sanctions would be determined based on the severity of violations and the degree to which individuals had damaged the institution's reputation. The investigation remained ongoing, with no predetermined conclusions about who else might face discipline.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, a prominent civil rights organization, issued a sharp critique of the affair. Its Secretary General, Muhammad Isnur, argued that the bribery scandal had fundamentally corrupted the democratic process. Instead of the government and parliament engaging seriously with student grievances and demands, the focus had shifted to allegations of corruption. This, Isnur contended, destroyed the legitimacy of the student movement itself. What should have been a pure expression of civic concern had been reframed as mercenary action. He called on police to investigate the alumni figures who had orchestrated the bribe and to examine whether suppressing the reformist movement had been the true objective all along. The scandal had accomplished what the initial relocation request could not: it had poisoned public perception of the students' cause, leaving their substantive criticisms unheard and their movement discredited.
Notable Quotes
This is a problem because it damages the substance of democracy. The criticisms and aspirations that should have been heard by the president and DPR have now changed direction due to loss of public trust in the student movement.— Muhammad Isnur, Secretary General of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would alumni pay to move a protest if the students rejected the offer anyway?
That's the question that haunts this. The money was given regardless of whether the demand was met. It suggests the goal wasn't really about controlling the location—it was about creating the appearance of corruption, whether or not the students cooperated.
So accepting the money was the trap?
Exactly. Accept it and you're compromised. Reject the relocation but take the money anyway, and you've still accepted a bribe. Either way, the movement loses its moral standing.
Did Abdimaludin understand that when he took it?
His confession suggests he did. He admitted to it publicly, which is unusual. But by then the damage was done—the story had already shifted from what students were demanding to what they'd allegedly been paid.
What were they actually demanding?
The source doesn't spell it out. We know the protest was called "Restructuring Indonesia," but the substance of their grievances got buried under the bribery narrative.
Is that the real scandal, then?
According to the legal foundation, yes. The bribery—whether it succeeded in moving the protest or not—accomplished the suppression of the movement by destroying its credibility. The students' actual concerns became irrelevant.