Students arrested over alleged arson at airport<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police arrested three students on Tuesday for allegedly inciting
\na rally at Polonia airport in Medan to demand the government
\ndisburse resettlement funds for refugees from Aceh.<\/p>\n
Darwin Syahputra, Joranda Irfan and Jusron Yusri of the Medan
\nInstitute of Technology were taken to the local police station
\nafter police suspected them of attempted arson.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said a group of police officers beat the three
\nstudents up before taking them to the police station.<\/p>\n
Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan confirmed the
\narrest, but said he would release the students as soon as they
\nhad received medical treatment.<\/p>\n
\"We are not providing them with medical treatment because we
\ndetained them,\" Bagus said.<\/p>\n
The students had turned angry after police prevented them from
\njoining 1,500 refugees from Aceh who had set up a human roadblock
\nnear the airport.<\/p>\n
The refugees were demanding a meeting with Minister of Social
\nAffairs Bachtiar Chamsyah, about to return to Jakarta after a
\nfour-day visit to Aceh and North Sumatra on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
It was the second rally in front of the airport within a week
\nto demand resettlement funds that had been withheld by Bachtiar
\nfollowing a report of a Rp 2.6 billion (US$289,000) scam. The
\ncentral government has allocated Rp 105 billion to some 12,000
\nrefugee families, with each family due to receive Rp 8.75
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
More than 4,000 families had not yet received the money when
\nBachtiar suspended disbursement of the funds. The minister did
\nnot make time to hold talks with either local government
\nofficials or the refugees to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of refugees have protested the slow disbursement of
\nthe funds for almost two weeks. One of them died on Saturday of
\nmalnutrition, while four others were hospitalized for staging a
\nhunger strike.<\/p>\n
On Monday some 5,000 refugees staged a fresh rally in front of
\nthe gubernatorial office.<\/p>\n
Director of the Medan Legal Aid Institute Irham Buana Nasution
\nrefuted police allegations that the three students had intended
\nto set the airport on fire.<\/p>\n
\"They had not intended to do any such thing. The police simply
\narrested them because they tried to break through the security
\ncordon,\" Irham said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-arrested-over-alleged-arson-at-airport-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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