Immediately take firm action against perpetrators of threats against environmental activist AKAR

Open Letter to Kuningan Police Chief

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Controversy News | It went viral on social media that environmental activist, Amalo, experienced persecution and was almost beaten by a number of people suspected of being illegal pine sap tappers on Mount Ciremai, on Thursday (12/2/2026). The video circulated quickly on social media and became a wide focus of the Kuningan community. Moreover, what happened was in the parking lot of the Kuningan Regency Government Office in the Kuningan Islamic Center (KIC) area. In the video circulating, an emotional crowd can be seen uttering harsh words at Amalo. Some even made physical contact and challenged to a duel. Amalo is known to have expressed strong criticism regarding the illegal activity of pine tapping. The NGO Akar has released a video on Instagram social media, containing a portrait of pine tapping in the Mount Ciremai National Park (TNGC) area. Apart from containing a portrait of the wiretapping, the video also contains a voice recording of Amalo, who strongly criticized the issue. Meanwhile, KTH Silihwangi, who is suspected of being involved in the commotion with Amalo in the parking lot of the Kuningan Regency Government Office, has so far not clarified or provided a response.

Everyone must receive protection and be free from threats of violence carried out by individuals or groups of people who are called acts of thuggery. Recently, threats and acts of persecution have also become quite strong facts that have happened to some pro-democracy activists and figures because they were critical of development in Kuningan Regency. Of course it concerns us all that freedom of expression guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution is now tainted by the terror of intimidation. Violence in any form cannot be justified, therefore the presence of the state must be permanent so that it cannot be defeated by thuggery.

For this reason, we convey the following position:

1. The 1945 Constitution, as our guide in the state, contains articles relating to human rights, namely providing obligations to the state to provide protection, respect and fulfillment of human rights for everyone. So there is no reason for any individual or group to act arbitrarily and inhumanely in repressive or violent ways that could threaten the safety of civil society.
2. National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo emphasized that the country will not be defeated by acts of thuggery that occur so that there is no room for thugs and gangsterism in Indonesia. Furthermore, the National Police Chief will not tolerate groups of thugs who make people anxious and afraid, so that acts of thuggery become our common enemy.
3. Regrets and strongly condemns the communist and thuggish methods that are still carried out today by some individuals and groups. They should strive for peaceful methods in the form of a dialogue approach to resolve any problems that occur (Non Violence). Instead of using thuggish methods in the past, namely by using intimidation and violence which clearly violates human rights and does not reflect the personality and ethics of the Indonesian nation with the Pancasila ideology.
4. Thugism is a cowardly act and destroys the foundations of social, national and state life and violates the rule of law. Analytically, thuggery is a pattern of power relations that often occurs in Indonesian society. Therefore, thuggery can occur at any level, from the grassroots to the country’s political elite.
5. There are articles in the Criminal Code that can ensnare perpetrators of acts of violence or thuggery, namely:

• Based on Article 340 of the Criminal Code, anyone who deliberately and with premeditation takes the life of another person, is threatened with premeditated murder, with the death penalty or life imprisonment or for a certain period, a maximum of 20 years.
• Article 351 of the Criminal Code, maltreatment is punishable by a maximum imprisonment of 2 years and eight months or a maximum fine of four thousand five hundred rupiah. If the act results in serious injury, the guilty person is threatened with imprisonment for a maximum of 5 years.
• UU no. 12 of 1951 which regulates the ownership and use of firearms and sharp weapons by civilians. In the provisions of Article 1 paragraph (1), it is stated that violating this provision can be punished with the death penalty or life imprisonment and violating this provision can be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.

6. Asking Kuningan Police Chief AKBP Ali Akbar, SIK to immediately take action to arrest and investigate if it is true that the alleged threats and intimidation that occurred to Amalo, an environmental activist from AKAR. The Kuningan Police Chief must act quickly and firmly if there is persecution or thuggery carried out by individuals or community groups in Kuningan Regency who have taken the law into their own hands.

In closing, we ask the government to consistently fight persecution. Because according to the records of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS), a non-profit organization working in the field of human rights advocacy in Indonesia, the number of persecutions has continued to increase since 2015. So there is no longer any justification for any individual or group in society and the state to take the law into their own hands. Because no one in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is above the law.

Kuningan, February 17 2026

Uha Juhana, Chairman of NGO Frontal