August 31, 2026 | 10:38 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Gerakan Rakyat Indonesia Bersatu (GRIB Jaya), an Indonesian mass organization, has denied allegations that its members were involved in the beating of Bambang Setiawan, a mirror seller who died during unrest in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
Bambang is believed to have died after being beaten by an unidentified group. Police are still investigating the incident.
GRIB Jaya Secretary-General Zulfikar said certain parties were spreading false narratives and inciting the public against the organization. He instead accused protesters of attacking Bambang.
“Perhaps you have seen it on TikTok. Someone died after being beaten. It was not GRIB that beat him. It was the protesters,” Zulfikar said in a video statement uploaded to Instagram on Sunday night, August 30, 2026.
Zulfikar said GRIB Jaya members were present that night as Pam Swakarsa, or civilian security volunteers, to assist security personnel in dispersing the crowd. He also claimed that the location where Bambang died was different from where GRIB Jaya members were deployed.
According to Zulfikar, those who remained at the scene were no longer the original protesters, as demonstrators from Pati had already ended their protest and returned home. He said other groups later emerged and deliberately caused unrest, damaged public facilities and attacked private vehicles.
“What kind of demonstration takes place until midnight?” Zulfikar said.
He claimed that GRIB Jaya members deployed as civilian security volunteers did not engage in violence. Instead, he said, the crowd acted aggressively by provoking and challenging them and throwing stones.
“We were pelted with stones, and the stones they used were molded from cement. The stones had the same shape at every location, which means they had prepared them beforehand,” he said.
Earlier, Bambang was found dead in the Pejompongan area. Police initially went to the scene after receiving reports of unrest.
Jakarta Metropolitan Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Budi Hermanto said that after officers secured the area, the police medical and health unit evacuated an unconscious man.
Bambang was taken to the nearby Mintohardjo Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“During treatment at the hospital, the person died,” Budi said.
Bambang's body was then taken to the Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta between 11:30 p.m. and midnight for identification by a medical team.
Bambang's son, Wisnu, 35, said his father left home at around 10 p.m. to turn off the lights at his shop on Pejompongan Raya. The shop was located only about 500 meters from their home.
Hours passed, but his father did not return.
“It turned out that my father was at the police hospital,” Wisnu said.
Claims have circulated on social media that Bambang died after being beaten by a group linked to GRIB Jaya. Several videos have also circulated showing a group believed to be GRIB Jaya members at the scene of the unrest following a demonstration near the House of Representatives (DPR) and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) complex.
The videos' narrators claimed that GRIB Jaya members had been deployed to help security personnel disperse the crowd.
In the footage, a group of people can be seen unloading bamboo poles from a truck and moving to push back protesters. Some were wearing white headbands as they moved around the area near the parliament complex.
Nabiila Azzahra and Eka Yudha Saputra contributed to this article.
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