This study is motivated by the increasing wave of demonstrations in 2025 as a form of public expression toward state policies, which on the other hand was followed by repressive measures carried out by law enforcement authorities through mass arrests and the designation of hundreds of demonstrators as suspects. The purpose of this research is to analyze the legal basis for the designation of suspects among demonstration participants, to examine its conformity with the principle of legality, the principle of geen straf zonder schuld (no punishment without fault), the principles of proportionality and ultimum remedium, and to analyze the legal considerations used by law enforcement authorities in determining demonstrators at the DPR and DPRD buildings in 2025 as criminal suspects from the perspective of human rights principles and Indonesian criminal law. This research employs normative legal research using statutory, case, and conceptual approaches through the study of legislation, court decisions, legal doctrines, and four representative demonstration cases that occurred in 2025. The findings reveal that law enforcement practices in handling demonstrations still tend to be formalistic and repressive, as reflected in the broad application of criminal provisions, weak construction of evidence regarding individual culpability, and the lack of consistent implementation of the principles of proportionality and criminal punishment as a last resort. On the other hand, several court decisions demonstrate a more progressive approach by emphasizing the protection of citizens’ constitutional rights and strengthening judicial oversight over government actions. This study concludes that the handling of demonstrations should place criminal law in a limited, proportional, and substantively just position in order to protect freedom of expression without neglecting public order, thereby enabling the rule of law and democracy to function in a balanced manner within Indonesia’s constitutional system.
Keywords: Demonstration, Anarchism, Human Rights.