USU PR – The Police Reform Acceleration Commission held a Public Hearing of the Police Reform Acceleration Commission at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), on Friday (12/12/2025).

The Rector of USU, Prof. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si., represented by USU Vice Rector I Prof. Edy Ikhsan, expressed his appreciation for the trust given by the Police Reform Acceleration Commission in establishing cooperation with USU.

“The purpose of this Public Hearing is to absorb aspirations from various elements of society regarding improvements to the Indonesian National Police in the future,” he stated.

USU, he added, supports efforts to improve the Indonesian National Police under the Police Reform Acceleration Commission. “Hopefully, the public hearing held today will be able to bring improvements to the Indonesian National Police institution,” said Prof. Edy.

At the event, a Member of the Police Reform Acceleration Commission, Mohammad Mahfud MD, also touched on the need to evaluate the arrest of thousands of demonstrators carried out by the police.

Mahfud conveyed that the Indonesian National Police conducted mass arrests at the end of last August. “Those arrested by the police throughout Indonesia were extraordinary in number. There were 1,038 people,” he said.

Therefore, he requested that the handling process of the demonstrators be re-evaluated. “We propose that it be reviewed again, and the National Police Chief has stated that it will be reviewed again,” said Mahfud.

He also highlighted the case of Laras, an employee of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly office who was arrested because of content posted on her mobile phone.

“She only expressed condolences, but she was then arrested because that content was found on her phone. It was considered as provoking. That is what we want to save, to help so that she is not prosecuted, because she did not even take part in the demonstration, she only read it and then expressed condolences by saying innalillahi wa innailaihi raji’un,” he explained.

However, Mahfud emphasized that the case is currently already in the judicial process.

“But for cases that have already entered the court, we leave it to the court to release her if she is indeed innocent,” he stressed.

Furthermore, Mahfud ensured that all public input, including circulating satire related to illegal levies in North Sumatra, would be used as evaluation material by the Police Reform Acceleration Commission.

“That is also a satire directed at the police, implying that if you have dealings with the police, you must first hand over some ‘coffee money’ so that the matter can be resolved,” he concluded.