More violence mars student protests<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Violence became an increasingly unavoidable
\nfeature as more and more student demonstrations demanding reforms
\nand protesting against the fuel and electricity price increases
\nbroke into clashes with security officers.<\/p>\n
In Jatinangor, a throughway just outside Bandung, West Java,
\nat least seven students and several residents were injured when a
\nstreet demonstration staged by students of the Padjadjaran
\nUniversity, Winaya Mukti University and Ikopin Institute was
\nforcibly dispersed by security forces.<\/p>\n
Several shop stalls near the protest scene were damaged.<\/p>\n
As a result of the protests the Bandung-Sumedang-Cirebon
\ntraffic was brought to a standstill for more than three hours.<\/p>\n
In the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang, thousands of
\nstudents from seven universities held separate protests.<\/p>\n
Tempers quickly spilled over as students were obviously still
\nbitter over the shooting of one of their colleagues during a
\nprotest the previous day. The student, Amir Syarif, 24, was hit
\nin the arm as police fired warning shots. He was still
\nrecuperating yesterday.<\/p>\n
At one protest, a police officer was beaten up and a car
\nwindshield was smashed.<\/p>\n
The officer, a corporal, was beaten up when he passed a group
\nof protesters in front of the Indonesian Muslim University.<\/p>\n
At a separate protest, several hundred students descended on
\nthe provincial legislature office. The protest quickly became
\nrabid after the students were not allowed to meet legislators.<\/p>\n
Students then vandalized the office, smashing 10 garden
\nlights, window panes in the council's main entrance door and
\nflower pots.<\/p>\n
They also lowered the national flag and ripped it to make it
\ninto bandannas.<\/p>\n
The commotion stopped after police fired a series of warning
\nshots into the air.<\/p>\n
Students also calmed down after student leaders agreed to
\npeacefully leave the grounds after being urged by Ujungpandang
\nPolice Chief Col. Jusuf Manggabarani.<\/p>\n
Claims<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, students and police released their respective
\nclaims of injuries and arrests following violence which broke out
\nTuesday evening near Sanata Dharma University.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta Police chief Col. Bani Siswono said 11 people were
\ninjured in Tuesday's violence, and 19 people, including nine
\nstudents, were questioned.<\/p>\n
\"Those people secured will only be asked some information over
\nthe incident. If they are later found innocent, we'll let them
\ngo,\" he told journalists at his office.<\/p>\n
Bani's account differed from the university students' advocacy
\nteam, which said 50 students had been taken by the police, and
\nthat 17 people -- five students and 12 local residents -- were
\nmissing.<\/p>\n
According to the advocacy team, 43 people were injured and 13
\nmotorcycles were damaged by security apparatus during the melee
\nthat lasted until dawn yesterday.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, about 80 students of Mercu Buana University went
\nto the National Commission on Human Rights to lodge a complaint
\nabout police violence during Tuesday's demonstration.<\/p>\n
At least 21 students and security guards of the university
\nwere injured, several by rubber-coated bullets fired by security
\nofficers. From the security apparatus' side, at least 11 were
\nhurt.<\/p>\n
The students presented their testimony to commission members
\n-- Clementino dos Reis Amaral, Soegiri, Samsuddin and M. Salim
\n-- by showing them videotapes, a tear gas canister, a bloodied
\nsecurity guard's uniform, and over a dozen bullet casings.<\/p>\n
Their testimony was backed by two lecturers.<\/p>\n
\"With testimony from their lecturers, the commission believes
\nthe students' account of the incident to be 100 percent true,\"
\nSamsuddin, who is a retired Army two-star general, told the mass
\nmedia after hearing the students' complaint.<\/p>\n
\"We believe that there's been a violation of procedures.\"<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said: \"If
\nthere is sufficient proof that there are officers who violated
\nprocedure in such an incident, they (the students) should have
\ncome to us.\"<\/p>\n
Separately, Jakarta Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. DJ.
\nNachrowi said the military had intensified security watch around
\ncampuses, particularly those which frequently staged
\nrallies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the National University, which had been the sight of
\nseveral violent demonstrations in the past few days, announced
\nyesterday that it was suspending classes for three days. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-violence-mars-student-protests-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}