Indonesian police have arrested dozens of protesters following a rally against President Prabowo Subianto’s policies in the country’s second-largest city, a rights group said on Saturday (June 27, 2026).

Around 100 people gathered near a government building in Surabaya on Friday (June 26, 2026), AFP journalists estimated, to protest a fuel price hike and Prabowo’s flagship free meals scheme.

Some demonstrators hurled rocks towards police and set fire to rubbish in the middle of the road, prompting officers to arrest them, the reporters saw.

Twenty-four protesters were arrested, Fatkul Khoir, a coordinator at rights group KontraS Surabaya, told AFP on Saturday (June 26, 2026).

Police questioned them until 3:30 a.m. on Saturday (June 27, 2026) but did not charge them, he said.

Surabaya police chief Luthfie Sulistiawan told reporters late on Friday (June 26, 2026) that officers had taken “firm actions” to push back protesters after some threw projectiles.

He said there had been “dozens” of arrests but did not specify the number.

Protests erupted in several Indonesian cities this month after Prabowo’s administration raised prices of non-subsidised gasoline by around 30%, seeking to ease budgetary pressures as the West Asia war weighs on global oil supplies.

Thousands of students took to the streets in the capital Jakarta to oppose both the fuel price hikes and to demand a halt to the multi-billion-dollar free meals scheme.

The initiative has been a cornerstone of Prabowo’s political agenda but has received widespread criticism for being wasteful and linked to mass food poisonings. It has since been partly suspended.

Indonesia’s biggest unrest since Prabowo took office in 2024 came in August and September, when nationwide protests took place initially over lavish perks for lawmakers.

However, they spiralled into an outburst of anger against security forces after a police vehicle ran over a delivery driver and killed him.

Rights groups said those protests resulted in 10 deaths and thousands of arrests, though most people have since been released.

Indonesian political parties have agreed to revoke a number of perks and privileges for parliamentarians, President Prabowo Subianto said on Sunday (August 31, 2025), in a major concession to anti-government protests that left five people dead.

Protests over what demonstrators termed excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians started on Monday (August 25, 2025). They expanded into riots on Thursday (August 28, 2025) after one person — a motorcycle rideshare driver — was killed in police action at a protest site. The homes of some political party members and state installations were ransacked or set ablaze.

Also read: Indonesia protest blaze kills three as anger erupts over driver’s death

Mr. Prabowo, speaking at a news conference at the Presidential Palace and flanked by the leaders of various political parties, said he had ordered the military and police to take stern action against rioters and looters, warning that some of the actions were indicative of “terrorism” and “treason”.

“Leaders in parliament have conveyed that they will revoke a number of parliament policies, including the size of allowances for members of parliament and a moratorium on overseas work trips,” Mr. Prabowo said.

“To the police and the military, I have ordered them to take action as firm as possible against the destruction of public facilities, looting at homes of individuals and economic centres, according to the laws,” he added.

The protests are the biggest test yet for Mr. Prabowo’s nearly one-year-old government, which has faced little or no political Opposition since taking power last October.