Video shows professional skydivers, not Indonesian politician performing the stunt
- Published on April 2, 2024 at 11:45
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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"The moment AHY descended from the sky," reads Indonesian-language sticker text on a TikTok video posted February 3, 2024.
Indonesia's Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the eldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is popularly known as AHY in the Southeast Asian archipelago (archived link).
The 19-second clip, which has been viewed more than three million times, shows a person parachuting into a crowd, trailing a banner that reads "AHY".
The post's caption repeats the claim, adding the stunt took place when Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who was running for president at the time, attended an event at Gajayana Stadium in Malang, Indonesia's East Java province.
Agus' Democratic Party supported Prabowo's campaign in the Indonesian presidential election, which took place on February 14, 2024.
More than a month later, on March 20, the General Elections Committee confirmed Prabowo as the winner, but rivals Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo have vowed to file legal complaints about the vote.
The same video racked up more than 47,000 views alongside a similar false claim on YouTube here, here and here, on short video-sharing platform SnackVideo here, as well as on X here.
Some users left comments indicating they believed Agus performed the stunt himself.
"AHY is the best," wrote one TikTok user, while a YouTube user said: "So amazing Mr AHY".
In fact, Agus did not parachute into the event, he watched it from a podium.
Professional skydivers
Combined Google reverse image and YouTube keyword searches found a live-stream of the event at Gajayana Stadium, uploaded by the Democratic Party's official channel on February 1, 2024 (archived link).
The video's Indonesian-language title reads: "Democratic Party's Grand Meeting 'Democrats Win, Prabowo President'". Its caption states the event was held in the stadium in Malang, East Java province, on February 1, 2024.
Local media, such as here and here, reported four professional skydivers took part in the Democratic Party's campaign event on that day (archived links here and here).
The parachute performance begins at the video's one-hour, six-minute and two-second mark, where four people can be seen flying through the air, while Agus watches from a seat on a stage alongside his father Yudhoyono and Prabowo.
Similar scenes of a skydiver coming in to land, trailing a banner that reads "AHY", can be seen at the video's one-hour, 11-minute, six-second mark.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post, with the scenes stitched by AFP (left) and the live-stream uploaded by the Democratic Party (right), with similarities marked by AFP:
At the live-stream video's one-hour, nine-minute and 46-second mark, the three politicians can be seen seated on stage, looking up to watch the aerial performance: Yudhoyono on the left, Prabowo in the centre and Agus on the right.
The video's one-hour, 27-minute, 18-second mark shows Agus and Prabowo greeting the four skydivers.
Below are screenshots the Democratic Party's livestream showing Yudhoyono, Prabowo and Agus watching the aerial show (left) and Agus and Prabowo greeting the skydivers (right):
Agus also posted a photo of him and Prabowo greeting the four skydivers on his official X account on February 3, 2024 (archived link).
The politician explained the skydiving performance was a nod to the time Prabowo, Yudhoyono and himself spent serving in the Indonesian army's airborne troops (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims circulating around the Indonesian elections here.
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