The chairman of Jakarta-based LGBT group Arus Pelangi has filed a report to the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for shutting down a workshop on access to justice for LGBT communities in early February.

Yuli Rustinawati said dozens of Menteng Police officers arrived at the Cemara Hotel in Menteng, Central Jakarta where the workshop was attended by 26 delegates from eight local provinces.

According to the Jakarata Post, the police met with organizers of the workshop as well as members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), a hard-line group with a history of disruption LGBT events across the country.

The LGBT advocacy group held a series of events between February 1 and 8 under the tagline ‘LGBT Rights are Human Rights.’

Yuli told the Post that although she was told by the police that the organizers needed to get a permit from the police to hold such an event, she said that no regulation stipulated that an event held indoors with fewer than 50 people required a police permit.

On the third day of the event, five FPI members and a police officer arrived at the venue and demanded that the workshop be stopped immediately as it did not have a required permit.

The group however decided to continue as they felt that they had not violated any laws.

Several hours later, some 25 uniformed police officers descended into the hotel lobby and forced the management to stop the event.

Human Rights Watch Group (HRWG) ASEAN program manager Daniel Awigra lambasted the police’s actions.

‘What’s the basis of it? The police are responsible for protecting everyone, regardless of their politics, religion or sexual orientation. The [LGBT community] is not a threat to safety, public order, public health or morals,’ he was quoted as saying by the Post.

An editorial in the Jakarta Post titled Dashed hopes in Jakarta Police called out the police force for continuing to ‘side with conservative political and religious groups at the expense of Indonesia’s democracy’ and ‘fail(ing) in serving all law-abiding citizens without fear or favor.’

The incident is among a series of anti-gay statements and actions by government officials and the hardline group.

In January, FPI members in Bandung raided boarding houses in the country’s third largest city where they believed gay people were staying and put up signs demanding that they leave.

Earlier this week, the Indonesian government ordered instant messaging app LINE to remove stickers, which showed two cartoon men embracing and kissing, after a backlash on social media.

In January, an Indonesian education minister called for LGBTI students to be banned from universities.

On Friday, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi joined in the attack on LGBTI people.

‘Of course it is inappropriate for civil servants to be [homosexual]. Having more than one wife for a man is still normal, even though it is prohibited by regulations and the ethics code, but LGBT is another issue,’ he said.

Only one high-ranking government official has spoken out for the LGBT people to date.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Friday said LGBT people have equal position before the law in Indonesia.

‘Whoever they are, wherever they work, he or she continues to be an Indonesian citizen. They have the right to be protected as well,’ he told the Post.