JAKARTA – Indonesian police said they are investigating possible “intellectual actors”, financiers and individuals involved in mobilising participants of the Jakarta unrest on Aug 27 that left one man dead.

The police named 47 suspects over damage to public facilities and assaults during unrest outside the Parliament complex and in nearby Pejompongan, in central Jakarta.

“Although they appeared in separate groups, we suspect there was mobilisation,” Jakarta police criminal investigation director Iman Imanuddin told a police press conference on Sept 2.

In Indonesia, when demonstrations turn violent, police and the public have often questioned whether others were behind the unrest rather than the protesters themselves.

“Intellectual actors” is a term commonly used in Indonesia to refer to suspected masterminds behind an offence.

Three people were detained between the night of Sept 1 and the morning of Sept 2 for allegedly taking part in the destruction of government closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras outside Parliament, according to police.

Preliminary investigations found that those involved were aware that surveillance cameras were widely deployed across Jakarta and had sought to hamper the investigation by destroying or removing potential evidence, Iman said.

The Aug 27 demonstration began as an anti-corruption rally, with about 500 people travelling from Pati in Central Java to press Parliament to pass the long-delayed Asset Forfeiture Bill, which would give the authorities greater powers to seize assets linked to crime.

Representatives of the group met parliamentary leaders and most of its members had left by midday. Other protesters remained or arrived with broader grievances over jobs, living costs and government spending, before unrest later broke out.

“What happened in the unrest was not carried out by protesters. They were not protesters,” Iman said, referring to those who came later.