Protesters take over radio station in Semarang<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of student protesters in the Central
\nJava capital of Semarang, joined by hundreds of city residents,
\ntook over the state-owned Radio Republik Indonesia station
\nyesterday forcing the radio station to air their demands for
\nreform.<\/p>\n
The student demands for total reform, lower prices of
\nessential goods, an extraordinary session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) and a stop to all violence were read
\non the air by a radio announcer at 2:15 p.m. and later again by
\none of the students at 3:30 p.m., Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The takeover proceeded smoothly and there were no reports of
\nmajor damages to the studio building.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of security personnel stood nearby but did not move
\nagainst the peaceful protest action.<\/p>\n
The security officers then escorted the students and residents
\nas they marched down the city streets to the governor's office.<\/p>\n
\"The security apparatus' approach to the demonstrators was
\nsympathetic. Meanwhile, the students also showed commendable
\nself-restraint,\" the chairman of the provincial legislature
\noffice, Alip Pandoyo, said.<\/p>\n
Three kilometers from the scene, 5,000 students gathered near
\nGovernor Soewardi's residence, chanting insults.<\/p>\n
Soewardi at one point tried to talk to the students but had
\nplastic water bottles thrown at him.<\/p>\n
Despite an absence of violence, the protests worried many shop
\nowners in the city, prompting them to close early.<\/p>\n
In Surakarta, Central Java, dozens of students were injured --
\nsome hit by rubber bullets -- when police opened fire at
\ndemonstrating students of Surakarta Muhammadiyah University who
\ntried to break through a police barricade.<\/p>\n
The violence triggered a riot by thousands of people outside
\nthe campus on Jl. Pabelan in the city outskirts. The mob burned
\n15 buildings and six cars along Jl. Slamet Riyadi and Jl.
\nPurwosari over a nine-kilometer stretch.<\/p>\n
Minor violence<\/p>\n
Minor violence also occurred yesterday in Bogor, West Java,
\nwhen hundreds of people outside the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture (IPB) threw stones at 10,000 students staging an on-
\ncampus demonstration.<\/p>\n
They did so because the students refused to join them in a
\nmarch on the streets.<\/p>\n
Rallies -- staged to mourn four Trisakti University students
\nkilled Tuesday in Jakarta, condemned the practices of nepotism,
\ncorruption and collusion in the House of Representatives and the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) -- were also staged in Ibnu
\nKhaldun University and Pakuan University.<\/p>\n
They also demanded yesterday that the MPR hold an
\nextraordinary session to demand President Soeharto explain how
\nthe country had come to its predicament.<\/p>\n
In Medan, North Sumatra, thousands of students also
\ndemonstrated at Sumatera Utara University to mourn the deaths of
\nthe country's \"heroes of reform\".<\/p>\n
They marched off their campus only to be stopped 600 meters
\naway by security forces.<\/p>\n
A friendly negotiation took place between the students and
\nofficers from the Armed Forces Strategic Reserves Command who
\nwere at the scene.<\/p>\n
The students then sat on the street and held a free-speech
\nforum. They sang antigovernment songs and many posed for
\nphotographs with the soldiers.<\/p>\n
In Purwokerto, Central Java, over 3,000 protesting students at
\nthe National Islamic College (STAIN) were dispersed by tear gas
\nwhen they tried to break a police barricade to march off to the
\nstreets.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, West Java, over 100,000 students from several
\nuniversities gathered at the provincial legislature office to
\ndemand for total government reform. (team)<\/p>",
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