Academia
Two activists display a banner reading “Freedom of Expression = Rights“ during the verdict hearing for activists Delpedro Marhaen Rismansyah, Khariq Anhar, Muzaffar Salim and Syahdan Husein, who were standing trial in an alleged incitement case related to anti-government protests that ended in riots between August and September 2025, at the Central Jakarta District Court in Central Jakarta on March 6, 2026. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
A bank account can be frozen in minutes, but the damage to trust in the financial system can last much longer. The controversial freezing of an account belonging to the coordinator of a planned demonstration in Jakarta raises a question that goes well beyond the Rp 80.9 million (US$4,500) involved: How should banks balance law-enforcement requests against due process and customer protection, particularly when the legal basis for restricting access to a customer’s money is contested?Soon after Supriyono, coordinator of the United Pati Community Alliance (AMPB), announced that his Rp 80.9 million account at Bank Mandiri, the country’s largest bank, had been frozen seven days before the scheduled demonstration, the news went viral. People sympathetic to the demonstrations against the current administration immediately launched a movement to withdraw their money from Bank Mandiri, prompting the bank to issue a public apology.
