The fatal crash — caught on video and rapidly spread in group chats and on social media — turned what appeared to be manageable protests over rising costs of living into the most serious test yet for President Prabowo Subianto, who took power about 10 months ago.
Caught up in a crowd of protesters while delivering food in Indonesia’s capital on Thursday night, Affan Kurniawan dropped his mobile phone and knelt down to pick it up.
At that moment, an armoured police vehicle slammed into the 21-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, pinning him under its front tires. As a crowd descended on the vehicle, the police officer hit the accelerator and ran over his body. Affan was rushed to a Jakarta hospital but didn’t survive.
