Banceuy Prison Monument

Preserved cell where Sukarno was imprisoned by the Dutch in 1929

A small, easily missed monument on Jalan Banceuy near the Asia-Afrika area: a preserved cell and a guard tower, all that remain of the prison where the Dutch colonial authorities held the young Sukarno and other nationalist leaders. The cell is bare — a wooden bunk, a metal bucket — and the captioning is in Indonesian, but the place has real historical weight for any visitor interested in the independence struggle.

It is usually open during daylight hours and free to enter. Twenty minutes is enough for the visit. Combine with a wider walk along Asia-Afrika Street and Braga.

things to do sight history
A story
From cell 5, where he was confined in 1929–31, Sukarno smuggled out the text of his famous defence speech *Indonesia Menggugat* (Indonesia Accuses). The speech became one of the founding documents of Indonesian nationalism. The rest of the prison was demolished in the 1980s; the cell and a small tower were kept as a monument.