Freedom Of Expression With Sukatani Band

JAKARTA - The Sukatani band suddenly became famous. The name of the group with the punk rock genre was suddenly famous and known to the public, even this band attracted more attention than the demonstration which was held by thousands of students at the same time throughout the country last week.

The appearance of the Sukatani Band seems to have the right moment. Apart from being judged as representing the voices of the people who are thirsty for justice. Moreover, the Sukatani band brought the sound of concern that was being experienced by the people and the drama was peppered with intimidation and silencing of public expression. So the fame of this band skyrocketed.

The Sukatani band was actually formed in 2022, to voice their coolness over the difficulty of living as an agricultural society. Sukatani is a punk new wave band from Purbalingga, Central Java. This band is known to be active in an independent music scheme and often appears in underground events. The band fronted by the husband and wife Alectroguy (Muhammad Syifa Al Luthfi) as guitarists and producers, as well as Twister Angel (Novi Citra Indriyati) as vocalists.

Initially, Sukatani appeared anonymous and did not reveal his identity by wearing a balclava mask (face cover that is often used by the military in the Crimean war (18531856) in the Balaclava area, near Sevastopol, Crimea). Where the identity of the personnel does not want to be recognized. In every performance they often share vegetables until they call themselves the band punk Agraris. It was later discovered that one of its personnel was a teacher of SDIT Mutiara Hati in the Banjarnegara area, Central Java.

The punk group Sukatani in the single Alas Wirasaba. (ANTARA/Handout/aa)

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

On July 24, 2023, Sukatani released an album titled Dark Gempita. One of them contained the song Pay Payment Payment'' and became a jargon for Indonesia's illegal demonstration. However, on February 20, 2025, Sukatani through social media posts stated that they had withdrawn the circulation of the song from all music platforms followed by an apology to the police and National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit. So that it attracted the attention of a number of parties, so that the former chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, Isnur, felt strange and changed Sukatani's attitude, even though at that time there was a hot Indonesia Dark demo in the midst of the government budget cuts.

Many parties opposed him, even the group of protesters who previously launched a demonstration ignited the hashtag "We are with Sukatani", as solidarity with support for the band. However, the police's attitude from the Central Java Police Di Cyber Police, who allegedly felt offended by the lyrics of the song, had asked for information from the band's personnel. Then followed by a statement, even the request for a cyberdit resulted in both expressing apologies to the Police Institution and the National Police Chief, even though the Head of Public Relations of the Central Java Police, Kombes Pol. Artanto stated that the clarification only asked about the purpose of writing the song. He also stated that there was no intimidation for them to apologize.

The alleged pressure and intimidation of the Sukatani group, triggered the reaction of a number of parties, both during the chili demonstration, continued to sound the song Pay, Pay, Pay Also invite reactions, including the Legal Aid Foundation, Muhammad Isnur, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, Member of the DPR Wattimena and Commissioner of Kompolnas, Khoirul Anam, who all stated that there was no need to ask about songs, because they were considered to injure freedom of expression.

Recently, the Chief of Police, General Listyo Sigit, who stated that he was not anti-community criticism was constructive. Even the National Police Chief himself wanted to make Sukatani's band an ambassador to the Police. With the attitude of the National Police Chief, the Propam Division of the National Police Headquarters finally examined a number of personnel from the Central Java Police Cyber Division on suspicion of examining Sukatani personnel.

With the clarity of the attitude of the National Police Chief, the Sukatani band was finally allowed to hold its inaugural concert in Slawi, Central Java, the Security Forces allowed the Sukatani Group to perform the song Pay, Pay, Pay. Finally, freedom of expression can be saved again.

Recently, Novi's status, which was reported to have been occupied and fired by the Foundation where she taught at SDIT Mutiara Hati, was due to reasons for joining Sukatani art. By the Regent of Purbalingga, Fahmi Muhammad Hanif and the Regent of Banjarnegara will be facilitated to be able to teach again