The pirate flag of the anime “ one piece ” is the most recent symbol of protest in Indonesia – and the officials reprimand

The skull and the Jolly Roger bones with a straw hat – from the Japanese animated series “One Piece” – took place in an increasing number of trucks, cars and houses.

The officials warn the “provocation” – seen by many as a protest against the policies of President Prabowo suffered – should not fly alongside the country’s red and white flag.

The pirate banner was taken over by drunk truck drivers earlier this summer, but recently snowball in an online and real movement.

“I personally raised the flag to a room because the red and white flag is too crowned to be raised in this corrupt country,” Khariq Anhar, 24 -year -old university student in the Sumatra riau province, told AFP.

“I believe that freedom of expression in Indonesia exists, but it is very limited. Expressing your opinion becomes more dangerous. ”

Government representatives say that the use of the flag is an attempt to division the nation.

They warn that it may be forbidden to fly alongside the colors of Indonesia, or to be raised on August 17 – the 80th anniversary of independence after the surrender of Japan at the end of the Second World War.

“It is imperative that we refrained from creating provocations with symbols that are not relevant to the struggle of this country,” the Minister of Security Budi Gunawan said last week in a statement last week.

The ministers have cited a law which prohibits piloting a symbol superior to that of the national flag as a basis for any punishment.

Under this law, the intention to desecrate, insult or degrade the flag causes a maximum prison sentence of five years or a fine of almost $ 31,000.

The Minister of the Secretary of State, Prasetyo Hadi, said on Tuesday that Prabowo had no problem with “the expression of creativity”, but the two flags “should not be placed side by side in a way that invites the comparison,” reported local media.

‘Just a cartoon’

A spokesperson for the presidency did not answer a question from AFP on his position on the pirate flag, which was placed two days earlier.

Experts say that unhappy Indonesians use the flag as a means of expressing an indirectly antigo -government feeling, some of the economic and defense policies of prabowo, which concerns democratic decline.

“Symbols like the pirate’s flag allow people to channel frustration without spelling it,” said Dinarto, Indonesia analyst at the Global Counsel consulting company.

“This reflects a public feeling that certain parts of the country have been” diverted “.”

Others, like the food seller Andri Saputra, who stole the Pirate brand under an Indonesian flag at home for a week, say they want to be able to decide which symbols they display.

“I want to be free to express my opinion and express myself,” said the 38 -year -old man in Boyolali Regency in the center of Java.

“It’s just a cartoon flag from Japan.”

Online culture has been a popular channel for Indonesian dissatisfaction with perceived government corruption and nepotism.

The Japanese anime is popular in Indonesia, and in the best -selling “a play” manga series created in 1997, the flag represents the opposition to an authoritarian world government.

In February, demonstrations known as “Dark Indonesia” began against the widespread budget cuts of Prabowo, triggered by a logo published on social networks showing a legendary Garuda black Indonesian bird alongside the words “emergency warning”.

Other rallies in 2016 and 2019 were also launched online, and Dedi said that the government could worry that “it follows the same digital play book”.

There is also a generational fracture, the older inhabitants considering the Indonesian flag as harshly won after centuries of colonial domination, while the young Indonesians see the new movement as an expression of disappointment.

Police raid

“They just want Indonesia to improve, but … they can only express it by the flag” a single piece “,” said Ismail Fahmi, founder of drone imprint.

Police in the province of Banten, the neighboring capital, Jakarta and the western java province, the most populous in Indonesia, threatened the action if the flag is controlled alongside the colors of the nation.

A printing business owner in the Java center told AFP on condition of anonymity that his establishment had been attacked by the police of single loops on Wednesday evening to stop its production of the pirate emblem.

Rights defense groups have called the excessive response and that Indonesians are authorized to wave the flag by law.

“Raisser the flag” a single piece “as a critic is part of freedom of expression and it is guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.

Despite threats from the government, some young Indonesians are still willing to risk walking on the protest board.

“Last night, my friend and I went around the city while raising a flag of a song,” Khariq said on Wednesday.

“If the government is not afraid to repress its own people, we should not be afraid to fight against bad politics.”