Delpedro Marhaen

Delpedro Marhaen is a lawyer and the Executive Director of the Lokataru Foundation, a non-profit focused on human rights issues and legal advocacy in Indonesia. As national protests unfolded in Indonesia in late August 2025, he began monitoring demonstrations, collecting data on arrests of protesters, and creating various support services, including a complaint hotline and program for free legal assistance for detained protesters.  Additionally, he advocated directly with police for the release of detainees.

On August 29, 2025, an undisclosed party filed a report against Delpedro. Three days later, he was forcibly taken into custody by plainclothes police officers. Once at the police station, he was initially denied contact with his lawyer and family as police subjected him to interrogation for 24 hours.

On November 28, 2025, an indictment was officially filed against Delpedro, charging him with incitement to hatred online; spreading false information online; public incitement; and child endangerment. The charges cited over twenty posts on the Lokataru Foundation’s Instagram account regarding the nationwide protests, including calls for the release of protesters, an end to violence against protesters, police transparency, and the creation of a support hotline number.

After numerous extensions of his pre-trial detention, Delpedro was released to house arrest on February 18, 2026. The conditions of house arrest required that he wear an ankle monitoring device, report periodically to authorities, and limit his movement to a small area surrounding his home.

On March 6, 2026, the Central Jakarta District Court acquitted Delpedro and his co-defendants.  The panel of judges overseeing the case found that there was no basis for finding the defendants guilty of the charges against them. In addition to the acquittal, the Court ordered the restoration of the defendants’ rights, which included releasing Delpedro from house arrest. Despite this acquittal, the government is pursuing an appeal of the ruling, which may see him return to custody if successful. No trial date has been set yet.

On April 7, 2026, Freedom Now filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Delpedro.