Photos unrelated to Rempang protests misleadingly shared in posts by Indonesian military
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 27, 2023 at 03:43
- Updated on September 27, 2023 at 04:03
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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Two photos showing the commander of Indonesia's armed forces, Admiral Yudo Margono, meeting enthusiastic crowds were shared here by the official account of the country's military information centre on X, formerly Twitter, on September 17, 2023.
"Indonesian military embraces protesters in Rempang," read the Indonesian-language post, which garnered more than 1,000 likes before it was deleted.
The post appears to have been a response to criticism directed at the military after the admiral was filmed telling troops to "squeeze the protesters" in Rempang, an island in the Riau archipelago near Singapore (archived links here and here).
On September 11, 2023, around 1,000 protesters clashed with security forces in Rempang during a rally opposing plans to develop the island into a Chinese-funded economic zone (archived link). The project, which includes the construction of a multibillion-dollar glass factory, would displace around 7,500 people.
The X post also links to an article on the military's website that uses one of the photos. The article, headlined: "Indonesian military embraces protesters", claims the admiral's comments had been misinterpreted.
"Regarding the word 'squeeze', it is actually language of the soldier, because it was said at a soldier's forum, which meant every soldier 'embrace' the people so they would avoid clashes," the military's spokesman was quoted as saying.
A similar post was shared by the military information centre on Instagram here, racking up more than 2,200 Likes.
This post and the website article have since been deleted.
The photos were also shared elsewhere in similar posts on X here and here.
The photos, however, are unrelated to the Rempang protests and were taken before the demonstrations broke out.
Photo from West Java province
A reverse image search on Google found the first photo was published in an article by the Okezone news website on August 28, 2023 (archived link).
The story says Yudo was attending a health and social services event at a sports centre in Tasikmalaya in Indonesia's West Java province.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading post (left) and the photo published by Okezone (right):
The photo was also shared on Instagram here in a post about the event by the Indonesian military's information centre on the same day (archived link).
Photo from East Java province
Another reverse image search on Google found the second photo had been published in a news article by Bangsa Online on March 11, 2023 (archived link).
The article says the admiral visited his hometown, in Madiun regency in the province of East Java, while providing assistance to underprivileged communities.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the second image in the misleading post (left) and the photo in the BangsaOnline article (right):
A spokesperson for Bangsa Online told AFP by email that the photo was taken when Yudo visited a village called Garon in the Balerejo district of Madiun regency.
"The photo is the work of our journalist Hendro Suhartono," they said.
The admiral has since apologised for his comments about how to handle the protesters, as reported by local media here and here on September 19, 2023 (archived links here and here).
Yudo said he instructed officers to use "piting" -- meaning to squeeze -- because security forces were not equipped to carry any weapons while facing the protesters.
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