The number of agrarian conflicts was also quite staggering. From 2014 to 2019, there was a total of 1,769 cases. According to the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), not less than 41 people were killed, and 546 people were persecuted in agrarian conflicts in Jokowi’s first term.
The freedom of the press is also on the brink of disappearance. Murders of critical journalists still exist in the Jokowi era, such as the cases of Marsal Harahap in North Sumatra and Demas Laira in West Sulawesi. Legal aid for the press (LBH Pers) claimed there were at least 117 attacks against media workers in 2020. The Political Indicators survey institute recently claimed that 62 percent of its respondents were afraid to express their opinion in this era, which is only natural, considering that the Information Technology and Electronic Transaction Law, which was originally intended for online fraud cases, has been abused as a political tool, weaponized to restrict the freedom of expression.
Such has become a trend that activists’ social media are usually hacked by the authorities and their hackers every time they are about to hold a protest to express their opinion. No wonder people are now afraid to express their opinions, let alone become activists.
It means that there is barely any difference between freedom-now and freedom-then because the former is getting too similar to the latter. (Gede Sandra)