Author: Palanghitam

Salah satu tahanan May Day 2026 Bandung, RR alias Mpe, yang sebelumnya dituduh sebagai “ketua Anarko”, kini dijerat polisi dengan pasal terorisme. Ia juga diisolasi dan tidak diberi hak untuk didampingi penasihat hukum pilihannya sendiri sehingga berpotensi melucuti hak tersangka untuk memberikan keterangan secara bebas tanpa paksaan, intimidasi, maupun tekanan.

Dalam kasus ini, polisi memakai pola narasi yang sama seperti saat menangani kerusuhan Agustus tahun lalu: mencari “dalang”, “ketua”, atau pihak yang dianggap merencanakan dan menggerakkan kerusuhan. Penegak hukum meyakini bahwa menindak pihak yang dianggap sebagai penggerak dapat mencegah kerusuhan serupa terjadi di kemudian hari. Namun dalam praktiknya, pendekatan semacam ini kerap menjadi metode kekuasaan otoriter untuk mengkriminalisasi pihak yang dianggap mengganggu stabilitas politik, sekaligus mengalihkan perhatian publik dari persoalan struktural ke individu tertentu.
Melalui cara ini, kemarahan sosial dipersempit seolah bukan lahir dari penderitaan nyata, melainkan hasil hasutan segelintir orang “licik”. Narasi tersebut juga sekaligus membenarkan tindakan represif negara tanpa perlu membuktikan kejahatan secara materiil; cukup menunjuk seorang “ketua”, maka seluruh perlawanan dapat dicap sebagai gerakan yang “tidak murni”. Pola narasi semacam ini paralel dengan praktik otoritarianisme.

Hal itu dapat dilihat dalam perkembangan baru-baru ini ketika Polda Metro Jaya membentuk Tim Pemburu Begal untuk menangani maraknya kejahatan jalanan, disertai wacana instruksi di beberapa tempat lain agar pelaku begal ditembak di tempat. Tidak lama kemudian, TNI menyatakan juga akan menurunkan personelnya untuk memberantas begal yang dapat dibaca sebagai upaya melegitimasi agenda perluasan peran TNI ke ranah penegakan hukum sipil.

Dua narasi ini kemudian diamplifikasi di media sosial oleh Polisi dan TNI yang seolah menemukan momentum untuk kembali tampil sebagai aktor utama keamanan dengan menaikkan narasi “siap bertindak”. Keduanya tampak memanfaatkan situasi tersebut untuk keluar dari serangan legitimasi yang selama ini membayangi mereka, termasuk karena keterlibatan dalam proyek tanam jagung, program MBG, hingga pengamanan Proyek Strategis Nasional.

Keterhubungan dua fenomena tersebut menelanjangi bagaimana negara memproduksi dan mengelola narasi “ancaman keamanan”. Dalam kasus RR alias Mpe, ancaman dibentuk lewat figur “dalang”, “ketua”, atau “teroris” yang dianggap menggerakkan kerusuhan politik. Sementara dalam kasus begal, ancaman diproduksi melalui wacana “darurat kriminalitas” yang membutuhkan tindakan cepat dan keras. Meski objeknya berbeda, keduanya bekerja dengan logika yang sama: menciptakan rasa takut di ruang publik agar perluasan kewenangan aparat terlihat wajar dan diperlukan. Dengan kata lain, figur “dalang kerusuhan” dan “begal” adalah instrumen politik untuk membangun kembali citra aparat, membenarkan tindakan represif, dan memperluas peran mereka di ruang sipil atas nama keamanan.

Dalam situasi ketika pola semacam ini terus berulang dan berdampak langsung pada kriminalisasi serta perampasan hak-hak sipil, sikap politik yang tidak bisa dihindari adalah keberpihakan pada mereka yang menjadi korban dari praktik tersebut.

Solidaritas dan dukungan tanpa syarat kepada semua tahanan anarkis!

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One of the detainees arrested during the May Day 2026 protests in Bandung, RR alias Mpe, who was previously accused of being the “leader of an anarchist group,” has now been charged by the police under terrorism laws. He has also reportedly been placed in isolation and denied access to legal counsel of his own choosing, raising serious concerns over the violation of a suspect’s right to provide testimony freely and without coercion, intimidation, or pressure.

In this case, the police appear to be employing the same narrative pattern used during last August’s unrest: identifying a supposed “mastermind,” “leader,” or individual believed to have planned and orchestrated the riots. Law enforcement authorities maintain that prosecuting those considered to be the driving force behind unrest can prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future. In practice, however, such an approach has often functioned as an authoritarian mechanism for criminalizing groups deemed disruptive to political stability, while simultaneously diverting public attention away from structural grievances and redirecting it toward specific individuals.

Through this method, social anger is framed not as a response to real social suffering, but rather as the product of manipulation by a handful of supposedly “deceitful” actors. This narrative also serves to justify state repression without the need to materially prove criminal wrongdoing; once a “leader” has been identified, an entire movement can be dismissed as illegitimate or “inauthentic.” Such patterns closely parallel authoritarian political practices.

Recent developments further illustrate this tendency. The Jakarta Metropolitan Police recently formed an anti-robbery task force to address rising street crime, accompanied by public calls in several regions for robbers to be shot on sight. Shortly thereafter, the Indonesian military (TNI) announced plans to deploy personnel to assist in combating street crime, a move widely interpreted as an attempt to legitimize the expansion of the military’s role into civilian law enforcement.

These two narratives have since been amplified on social media by both the police and the military, each seemingly seizing the moment to reassert themselves as central actors in national security through displays of readiness and force. The situation has also provided an opportunity for both institutions to recover public legitimacy amid ongoing criticism surrounding their involvement in corn plantation projects, the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program, and the security management of National Strategic Projects.

The connection between these two phenomena exposes how the state constructs and manages narratives of “security threats.” In the case of RR alias Mpe, the threat is personified through the figure of the “mastermind,” “leader,” or “terrorist” accused of mobilizing political unrest. In the case of street crime, the threat is produced through discourse surrounding a supposed “crime emergency” that demands swift and harsh measures. Although the objects differ, both operate according to the same logic: manufacturing fear in public space so that the expansion of state authority appears both natural and necessary.

In other words, the figures of the “riot mastermind” and the “street criminal” function politically as instruments for rebuilding the image of security institutions, legitimizing repressive measures, and expanding their role within civilian life in the name of public security.

At a time when such patterns continue to recur and directly contribute to criminalization and the erosion of civil liberties, the political position that cannot be avoided is one of siding with those who become victims of these practices.

Solidarity and unconditional support for all anarchist detainees.

Sejak Rabu (13/05/2026), polisi melalui media lokal mengklaim telah menangkap 13 orang yang dituduh terlibat aksi vandalisme dalam aksi Mayday 2026 di Bandung. Salah satu tersangka, RR alias Mpe, ditampilkan sebagai “ketua Anarkis Bandung Selatan” dan dituduh mengatur pembakaran, pengrusakan, hingga pendanaan aksi.

Aparat menjerat para anarkis dengan pasal-pasal terkait keamanan umum, antara lain Pasal 308 tentang membahayakan keamanan umum dan pasal 309 tentang pemufakatan jahat dan persiapan tindak pidana yang mengancam orang, barang, atau lingkungan, berdasarkan UU No. 1 Tahun 2023 tentang KUHP, dengan ancaman hukuman maksimal 9 tahun penjara.

Selain itu, polisi menyebut bahwa para anarkis berada di bawah pengaruh obat-obatan saat melakukan aksi, sebagai salah satu dasar moral penahanan. Pengumuman ini menjadi petunjuk kepanikan aparat, mengingat kericuhan di Mayday disebut melampaui prediksi dan gagal mereka antisipasi.

PS: Polisi sekali lagi membuat framing bahwa RR alias Mpe adalah dalang atau ketua aksi. Sejak penangkapan anarkis tahun lalu Polri juga melakukan framing yang sama. Ada kabar bahwa RR alias Mpe juga dituntut oleh keluarga partisipan aksi lainnya yang tertangkap hanya karena mereka lebih muda. Jangan biarkan RR sendirian!

English

Update on May Day 2026 Anarchist Prisoner (Indonesia)

Since Wednesday (13/05/2026), police, through local media outlets, have claimed to have arrested 13 individuals accused of involvement in acts of vandalism during the 2026 May Day demonstrations in Bandung. One of the suspects, RR alias “Mpe,” was presented as the “leader of South Bandung Anarchists” and accused of coordinating acts of arson, property destruction, and the financing of the unrest.

Authorities have charged the alleged anarchists under provisions related to public security, including Article 308 on endangering public safety and Article 309 on criminal conspiracy and preparation of offenses threatening people, property, or the environment, under Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code (KUHP), carrying a maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison.

In addition, police alleged that the anarchists were under the influence of drugs during the demonstrations, presenting this claim as one of the moral justifications for their detention. The announcement has been interpreted as a sign of panic within the security apparatus, given that the unrest during May Day reportedly exceeded official expectations and failed to be anticipated by the authorities.

My friends and brothers and sisters,
inside and outside these walls,
Peace be upon you.

I’m writing this letter to let you know that, God willing, I’m doing alright. A while ago I came down with a mild fever, but alhamdulillah, I’m still holding on, still under His grace and protection. I hope all of you are safe, healthy, and kept well. Aamiin.

My dear friends,

I’ve lost count of how many letters failed before this one finally made it out. There are barely any writing supplies in here, and when there are, they never last long. Even now, as I write this, I’m still being kept in quarantine. I don’t know for how much longer. Though honestly, I don’t expect anything from being moved to another block. To me, it’s all the same. The only thing I truly want, the only thing I keep hoping for, is FREEDOM. I want to go home. I want to eat my mother’s cooking again. I want to sit with my family.

I’m writing this in a hurry, with very little to work with, so forgive me if my words feel scattered. Prison really does cripple part of the mind.

Recently, I got to see the outside world again, if only for those weekly court hearings. I was unbelievably happy. Emotional, even. Hehe. I got to meet old friends and new ones too. Thank you for coming, for standing in solidarity with me. I love you all.

I also heard that my brother Albi, who was being detained in Bandung, has finally been released. Alhamdulillah. It made me incredibly happy. I pray the others still locked up will soon breathe fresh air again too.

UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE. UNTIL EVERY PRISON IS FLATTENED TO THE GROUND.

I’ve been imprisoned over the same case again. The moment I got out, ACAB—or what I call a disease—came to pick me up immediately. They traveled all the way from Surabaya just to carry out another ridiculous assignment. I’m sure they got something in return for arresting me. Who knows what. Things like this only make me trust the state even less. The state was never worthy of trust to begin with. LIARS! They will never hesitate to hunt down people who dare to say “no” to them. And maybe, in the end, it only ends with death.

While being held in quarantine, I’ve been trying to survive as best as I can. Life in here is deeply miserable. And it makes me wonder: since when did saying “no” to the state become forbidden? Since when does refusing obedience turn someone into a terrorist, a communist, a traitor, or whatever label they use for people who step out of line? Now let me ask another question: how could dissent not exist, when people are still capable of seeing, hearing, and feeling for themselves?

Look back for a moment—the events in Pati, where people rose against corrupt leaders who challenged and oppressed their own communities. Then the uprisings in August, when masses of protesters were arrested indiscriminately, dragged away like animals. And so many other incidents after that. Wasn’t all of this cultivated by the state itself?

In the middle of economic collapse, widespread poverty, and the looming threat of war, people eventually want only one simple thing: to eat, to survive, not to starve. And when desperation grows deep enough, people begin turning on one another. Killing one another. Consuming one another. Social war becomes inevitable.

The state is not separate from this. It is the hand directing the performance from behind the curtain.
Just think about it: people who take their anger to the streets are arrested and charged with destruction, vandalism, disorder, and whatever else they can invent. Then society is split apart into endless sides, pro and contra everywhere. Even those who merely express solidarity online are hunted down and arrested without hesitation. And somehow they are the ones accused of creating chaos and causing harm.

Alright then, let me ask again: who destroyed the forests of Kalimantan, Papua, and countless other islands to turn them into endless palm oil plantations? Who murdered the mountains by drilling into them and extracting their steam, poisoning the water and leaving behind salt, contamination, and ruin? Who built the nickel projects in Sulawesi and drove Indigenous communities off their own land? And Lapindo, the drilling disaster that drowned entire villages and buried lives that can never be recovered, who was responsible for that? Papuan mothers shot at for defending their autonomy. Honestly, there’s so much destruction I couldn’t possibly name it all.

And after all that devastation, what happens? Are the people responsible ever arrested? Ever punished in proportion to the damage they caused? Is there restoration? Can they ever return those places to what they once were? CAN THEY BRING ANY OF IT BACK? No! Because all of it was protected, funded, and planned by the state itself. The contradictions never end. I could go on forever talking about them. But the rest, I think, you can already see and understand for yourselves.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you—my family, my friends, my brothers and sisters. Forgive my terrible handwriting, and forgive me too if these words don’t sound revolutionary enough. Hehe.
We’re only separated for a little while. Hopefully one day we’ll meet again under kinder circumstances, in a better time than this. Until then, take care of yourselves. Be more careful out there. I think the road ahead is still very long.
Peace be upon you.

Komar
Medaeng Prison, Surabaya
April 29, 2026