Indonesia is cracking down on a viral pirate flag that is spreading as a symbol of political protest ahead of independence day.
The Jolly Roger skull and bones with a straw hat — from Japanese anime series One Piece — has been fluttering from a rising number of trucks, cars and homes.
Officials warn the “provocation” — seen by many as a protest against Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s policies — should not fly alongside the country’s red-and-white flag.
Photo: AFP
The pirate banner was taken up by disgruntled truck drivers earlier this summer, but has recently snowballed into an online and real-life movement.
“I personally raised the One Piece flag because the red and white flag is too sacred to be raised in this corrupt country,” said Khariq Anhar, a 24-year-old university student in Sumatra’s Riau Province. “I believe freedom of speech in Indonesia exists, but it is very limited. Voicing your opinion is getting more dangerous.”
Government officials say the flag’s use is an attempt to divide the nation.
They warn it might be banned from flying next to Indonesia’s colors, or being raised on Aug. 17 — the 80th independence anniversary after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.
“It is imperative we refrain from creating provocation with symbols that are not relevant to this country’s struggle,” Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan said in a statement last week.
Ministers have cited a law that prohibits flying a symbol higher than the national flag as the basis for any punishment.
Under that law, intent to desecrate, insult or degrade the flag carries a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of nearly US$31,000.
Indonesian State Secretary Minister Prasetyo Hadi on Tuesday said Prabowo had no issue with the “expression of creativity,” but the two flags “should not be placed side by side in a way that invites comparison,” local media reported.
A presidency spokesman did not respond to an AFP question about its position on the pirate flag, which was put two days earlier.
Experts say unhappy Indonesians are using the flag as a way to express anti-government feeling indirectly, with some of Prabowo’s economic and defense policies causing concern about democratic backsliding.
“Symbols like the pirate flag let people channel frustration without spelling it out,” said Dedi Dinarto, lead Indonesia analyst at advisory firm Global Counsel. “It reflects a public sentiment that parts of the country have been ‘hijacked.’”
Others, like food seller Andri Saputra, who has flown the pirate ensign below an Indonesian flag at his home for a week, say they want to be able to decide what symbols they display.
“I want to be free to express my opinion and express myself,” the 38-year-old said in Boyolali regency in Central Java. “This is just a cartoon flag from Japan.”
Police in Banten Province neighboring capital Jakarta and West Java Province, Indonesia’s most populous, have threatened action if the flag is flown next to the nation’s colors.
One printing business owner in Central Java said on condition of anonymity that his facility was raided by plain-clothes police on Wednesday evening to halt its production of the pirate emblem.
Rights groups have called the response excessive and say Indonesians are allowed to wave the flag by law.
“Raising the One Piece flag as a critic is a part of the freedom of speech and it is guaranteed by the constitution,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying
Ukrainian drone attacks overnight on several Russian power and energy facilities forced capacity reduction at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and set a fuel export terminal in Ust-Luga on fire, Russian officials said yesterday. A drone attack on the Kursk nuclear plant, not far from the border with Ukraine, damaged an auxiliary transformer and led to 50 percent reduction in the operating capacity at unit three of the plant, the plant’s press service said. There were no injuries and a fire sparked by the attack was promptly extinguished, the plant said. Radiation levels at the site and in the surrounding
‘DELIBERATE PROVOCATION’: Pyongyang said that Seoul had used a machine gun to fire at North Korean troops who were working to permanently seal the southern border South Korea fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers that briefly crossed the heavily fortified border earlier this week, Seoul said yesterday after Pyongyang accused it of risking “uncontrollable” tensions. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust,” but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul. Seoul’s military said several North Korean soldiers crossed the border on Tuesday while working in the heavily mined demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. The incursion prompted “our military to fire warning shots,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff
RSS