One of the strongest signs that Indonesia is now a true democracy is that freedom of speech, especially the freedom to criticize our leaders, is protected by the government (well, most of the time…). But even the staunchest defenders of free speech would agree that there must be some limits on how we express our criticisms, and those limitations usually include actions that actively endanger or hurt others.
Recently, a video showing students protesting against President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla has gone viral, not because of its message but because of the way the students choose to express their criticism – by beheading a live chicken and using its blood to cover posters of the country’s top two leaders.
Although there are laws against defaming or disrespecting the president as a symbol of the state, the outcry over the video has largely been focused on the cruel act of killing it depicted.
The protest was done by a group of students from Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ) on October 20, as part of a larger protest marking the two-year anniversary of Jokowi’s time in office, but the video only went viral recently after it was reposted on Instagram by Doni Herdaru Tona, the head of the Animal Defender activist group.
WARNING: Video features graphic depiction of animal cruelty
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQiZlemhxrJ/?taken-by=doniherdaru
In the caption, Doni writes: “Students are agents of change. They’re the moral guardians of the nation. And so this is definitely not the attitude we’d like to see from students.”
“Whatever their real purpose, it is wrong to include animals and torture them this way.”
“Not having any empathy is a symptom of mental illness. How will the next generation act if they can not empathize and take care of animals?”
“Shame on you, kids. Go home. You don’t deserve the ‘student’ title.”
Since Doni posted it, the video has been watched over 130,000 times. Most of the comments also sharply criticized the ayam execution, though a few argued that the life of one chicken was not worth much compared to the message of the protesters (which was apparently about the perceived arrogance of Jokowi and his policies).
UNJ officials confirmed that the protesters in the video did indeed attend the school and said they were investigating who was involved.
The police have also announced that they will investigate the circumstances behind the video.
“Yes, we’ll look into it and see if it meets the requirement for criminal charges or not. If it does, then we’ll definitely investigate,” said Argo Yuwono, head of public relations for the Jakarta Police, as quoted by Detik today.
Article 302 of the Indonesian Criminal Code protects animals against cruelty and violators can receive up to nine months in jail.
“Everyone is guaranteed freedom of speech, but there is no need to exploit animals for that purpose when there are better, more educated ways [to convey your message],” Dony told Detik on Saturday.
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