Jakarta (AFP) \u2013 Indonesia is cracking down on a viral pirate flag that is spreading as a symbol of political protest ahead of independence day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials warn the “provocation” — seen by many as a protest against President Prabowo Subianto’s policies — should not fly alongside the country’s red-and-white flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pirate banner was taken up by disgruntled truck drivers earlier this summer, but has recently snowballed into an online and real-life movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I personally raised the One Piece flag because the red and white flag is too sacred to be raised in this corrupt country,” Khariq Anhar, a 24-year-old university student in Sumatra’s Riau province, told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I believe freedom of speech in Indonesia exists, but it is very limited. Voicing your opinion is getting more dangerous.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government officials say the flag’s use is an attempt to divide the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They warn it may be banned from flying next to Indonesia’s colours, or being raised on August 17 — the 80th independence anniversary after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is imperative we refrain from creating provocation with symbols that are not relevant to this country’s struggle,” chief security minister Budi Gunawan said in a statement last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ministers have cited a law that prohibits flying a symbol higher than the national flag as the basis for any punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under that law, intent to desecrate, insult or degrade the flag carries a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of nearly $31,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A presidency spokesman did not respond to an AFP question about its position on the pirate flag, which was put two days earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts say unhappy Indonesians are using the flag as a way to express anti-government feeling indirectly, with some of Prabowo’s economic and defence policies causing concern about democratic backsliding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Symbols like the pirate flag let people channel frustration without spelling it out,” said Dedi Dinarto, lead Indonesia analyst at advisory firm Global Counsel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It reflects a public sentiment that parts of the country have been ‘hijacked’.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I want to be free to express my opinion and express myself,” the 38-year-old said in Boyolali regency in Central Java.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is just a cartoon flag from Japan.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Online culture has been a popular channel for Indonesian dissatisfaction against perceived government corruption and nepotism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese anime is popular in Indonesia, and in the best-selling ‘One Piece’ manga series created in 1997, the flag represents opposition to an authoritarian world government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, protests known as ‘Dark Indonesia’ began against Prabowo’s widespread budget cuts, sparked by a logo posted on social media showing a black Indonesian mythical Garuda bird alongside the words ‘Emergency Warning’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other rallies in 2016 and 2019 were also sparked online, and Dedi says the government may be worried that “this follows the same digital playbook”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also a generational divide, with older locals viewing the Indonesian flag as hard-won after centuries of colonial rule, while younger Indonesians see the new movement as an expression of disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They just want Indonesia to get better, but… they can only express it through the ‘One Piece’ flag,” said Ismail Fahmi, founder of Indonesian social media monitor Drone Emprit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police in Banten Province neighbouring capital Jakarta and West Java Province, Indonesia’s most populous, have threatened action if the flag is flown next to the nation’s colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One printing business owner in Central Java told AFP on condition of anonymity that his facility was raided by plain-clothes police on Wednesday evening to halt its production of the pirate emblem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rights groups have called the response excessive and say Indonesians are allowed to wave the flag by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Raising the ‘One Piece’ flag as a critic is a part of the freedom of speech and it is guaranteed by the constitution,” said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the government’s threats, some young Indonesians are still willing to risk walking the plank of protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Last night my friend and I went around the town while raising a One Piece flag,” said Khariq on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If the government has no fear of repressing its own people, we shouldn’t be scared to fight bad policies.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jakarta (AFP) \u2013 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. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":10334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,396,73,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-latest","category-security","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}