Airlangga Julio - The People versus Fadli Zon

[serious_fun]

This podcast features Airlangga Julio, associate lawyer at AMAR Law Firm and Public Interest Law Office and a member of the Tim Advokasi Untuk Demokrasi (TAUD, Advocacy Team for Democracy).

Last month marked the 28th anniversary of the mass rioting, that shook Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, and other major cities for several days in mid-May 1998. There was widespread looting and arson, which resulted in the deaths of over a 1000 people and large-scale property damage and capital flight. Soon, it was also revealed that incidents of sexual assaults and rapes had occurred on a massive scale.
The rioters’ targets were overwhelmingly properties and businesses owned by ethnic Chinese Indonesians. The victims of sexual violence and rapes were also, although not exclusively, Chinese, Indonesian women.
In the following days, Suharto’s authority became fractured and his regime fell, ushering in the Reformasi era. Key actors involved in these events of almost three decades ago, are today at the centre of power in Indonesia. Prabowo Subianto, now President, was then Commander of Kostrad, the Army Strategic Reserve Command, and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, now Defence Minister, was then Commander in charge of Jakarta, Pangkoops Jaya. At the time, Sjamsoeddin’s failure to protect the capital was singled out for condemnation. Around the fringes of these events was also Fadli Zon, a long-time supporter of Prabowo, who by his own account, was close to the now president as the events of May 1998 played out.
When he was appointed the Minister of Culture in Prabowo’s first cabinet in 2024, Fadli Zon immediately embarked on a controversial project to rewrite Indonesia’s official history for school curricula. He had a particular interest in the way in which the history of May 1998 would be represented. This became a focus in his public statements about the project, including challenging the historical account of these events accepted by the official government-appointed task force set up after the riots, and by rigorous academic research. Then in June 2025, Zon went on the record questioning if sexual assaults and rapes had taken place. A few months later, a group of advocates, including some of those directly involved in the fact-finding investigation and who provided support to victims at the time, filed a case against the minister in the Jakarta Administrative Court. Following several months of evidence, the trial concluded in April 2026.
What was the nature of their case against Minister Zon? How did the court respond? And what implications might this case have for the broader struggle for human rights protections and democracy in Indonesia right now?

 

[jstar]

There are quite many in my family in law and their friends who have encountered this violence first hand and my sister in law even knew a girl who committed suicide to avoid being raped. This whole operation ‘clean hands’ by Fadli the Toad is a big slap in the face to those families and a historical falsification.

 

[serious_fun]

rewriting history, toppling statues, redefining language...

 

[pantaiema]

The May 1998 riots were not the first incidents of anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia. Prior to the nationwide unrest that culminated in May 1998, a number of smaller riots had occurred in various cities, and Chinese Indonesians were frequently among the victims. Even today, some people in Indonesia continue to view themselves as having greater rights or entitlement to the country than fellow Indonesians of Chinese descent.

Some people have argued that Indonesia was once among the most racist country in the world, as it is institutionally and consitutionally racist. This discrimation was written in the policy and consitution.

During the Suharto era, ethnic Chinese Indonesians faced systemic discrimination. Their ethnicity was recorded on ID card which restricted their access to state universities and prevented them from pursuing careers as civil servants, police officers, or members of the military.

It is important to remember that these individuals were not Chinese nationals; they were Indonesians of Chinese ancestry. Many belonged to families that had lived in Indonesia for four or five generations, making them no less Indonesian than any other citizen.