Indonesian coalition against political arrests!

Imprisoning political activists in Indonesia and the broad countermovement

The use of legal instruments as a tool to silence people’s aspirations and weaken civil society movements has become widespread in the past years. Not only do the members of urban based organizations like Commune de Liberté risk these charges: shortly after their arrest, the indigenous community leader Gun Retno, who organized fellow residents of his region to oppose mining and cement factories in Central Java, is also being criminalized for defending his living space. The struggle for democracy and ecological justice is currently under serious threat due to the use of the law as a tool of silencing.

The targeting of a broad circle of activists asks for a broad countermovement. This is why Commune de Liberté organized a series of demonstrations and protests against the Central Java Provincial Government and their police division. They called for solidarity across religions, struggles and communities in Central Java.

The demonstrations were accompanied by political speeches, public discussions, and symbolic actions and came from various groups across their network of resistance – activist, students, workers, indigenous peoples – who all stand in solidarity with Gun Retno and the people from Commune de Liberté. Doing so, they put public pressure on the local govnement to end the practice of silencing and protect democratic space. Because speaking out should not be a reason to be arrested!

Commune de Liberté

Commune de Liberté’s primary activity is running a collective library that serves as a crucial space for education, critical reflection, and community organizing. This library is more than just a place for books — it is a hub where diverse groups come together, including workers, teachers, farmers, and sex workers from the neighborhood. It’s a space that creates the possibility for political awareness, solidarity, and collective empowerment across different social sectors and especially of marginalized groups. They also actively participate in various demonstrations and campaigns against e.g. state violence, showing solidarity with various social and political movements throughout Indonesia.

On the crossroads of fostering international feminist solidarity and raising class consciousness to empower marginalized group, Commune de Liberté (Pustaka Bestari) grows people for collective action. Their goal is to build a strong, informed, and united movements that resist capitalism, colonialism, and racism. Justice, equality, and liberation are their leading ideals.

Het Actiefonds is proud to have supported this action and will stand in solidarity with anyone who stands up against the imprisonment or arrest of activists!