On October 25, 2024, Airlangga University suspended three students from the Student Executive Board (BEM) of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) for “unethical behavior” after they put up a banner critical of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
On October 22, two days after President Subianto and Vice President Raka were inaugurated, BEM President Tuffahati Ullayyah, BEM Vice President Gavin Nayottama, and BEM Minister of Politics and Strategic Studies Rizaldi Mahendra, placed a banner in the campus garden that read, “Congratulations on the inauguration of ruthless general Prabowo Subianto and ‘Professor 2.3 GPA’ Gibran Rakabuming as President and vice-president of Indonesia, elected through a corrupted constitutional process. Signed Mulyono (Wrecker of democracy).” Photos of the banner went viral on social media.
On the morning of October 25, the Faculty Ethics committee summoned the three students and questioned them on their role in placing the banner on campus grounds. Later in the afternoon, they received an email from the Dean of FISIP, Bagong Suyanto, announcing their indefinite suspension. The letter stated that students had not received permission from faculty to place their banner and that the narrative used in the banner was “not in line with the ethics and academic culture of campus individuals.”
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the suspension of students in retaliation for their exercise of the right to freedom of expression. While university authorities have an obligation to take all reasonable measures to maintain a professional and respectful environment on campus, they must do so consistent with their responsibility to ensure academic freedom and free expression on campus. Restrictions on student expression undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3284184/anti-prabowo-banner-indonesian-university-causes-suspension-fuelling-censorship-fears
https://en.tempo.co/read/1933671/bem-fisip-unair-frozen-after-making-satirical-flower-arrangement-for-prabowo-gibran
https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2024/10/28/en-pembekuan-sementara-kepengurusan-bem-fisip-unair-akhirnya-dicabut