An internal meeting and gathering of the management of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and 18 LBH offices in Sanur, Bali, was forcibly disbanded by the police, Saturday (12/11).

Head of YLBHI M Isnur said the incident started at around 12.30 WITA, five people claimed that village officials/pecalang entered the villa in Sanur.

They questioned the activities and schedule for returning home and repeatedly conveyed the prohibition of carrying out any activities during the G20 presidency.

They asked YLBHI to make a statement and explanation. After that, the pecalang left the villa.

At around 17.00 WITA, dozens of police personnel who were not in uniform along with the pecalang were said to have returned to the villa and accused YLBHI of broadcasting live.

"They asked us to stop the meeting, disband the event, ask for KTPs and wanted to conduct a search to check all participants' cellphones/laptops and the event location," said Isnur.

"The request was not granted because it violates the law and human rights," he continued.

Isnur said the authorities repeatedly stated that YLBHI's activities did not have a permit from the local village and were implementing restrictions on activities in several areas.

However, YLBHI has checked that the villa area in question is not included in the restricted location.

"YLBHI staff were detained and were not allowed to leave the villa," he added.

After negotiating, around 20.00 WITA, some participants were allowed to leave. While some others have to live in a villa.

"During the trip, several unidentified people followed all of the participants' vehicles. Meanwhile, several other people watched the villa all night until early in the morning," said Isnur.

"YLBHI strongly suspects that security forces pressured village officials to come and carry out the above actions," he continued.

On Sunday (13/11) morning at around 08.00 WITA, one of the participants wanted to leave the villa because there was a flight schedule. However, it was banned by several people who claimed to be pecalang on the grounds of an officer's order.

One participant was asked to wait until 09.00 WITA, but still did not receive permission.

"After waiting for some time, finally at around 11.12 WITA the participants living in the villa were able to leave and change places," said Isnur.

YLBHI, explained Isnur, condemned all acts of terror, intimidation and arbitrary detention (depriving of independence according to Article 333 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code) carried out by the police. According to him, all of these actions were actually counterproductive to the government's statement that Bali was in a safe condition during the G20.

"Therefore, we urge the government, especially the police, to investigate all crimes and anti-democratic actions that occurred during the dissolution of internal meetings and YLBHI gatherings. Apart from that, we also urge that all perpetrators, both the police and other groups, be dealt with firmly," he concluded.

Since 7 November 2022, YLBHI officials have been invited and participated in other conference forums. Among them is the Asia Democracy Assembly 2022 which is being held by the Asia Democracy Network (ADN) and the South East Asia Freedom of Religion and Belief (SEA FORB) Conference in Bali.