Students clash with police in Jayapura<\/p>\n
R.K. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura<\/p>\n
Jayapura Police apprehended 42 students involved in a violent
\nantigovernment demonstration in the city on Saturday, but some
\nwere later released after questioning.<\/p>\n
The 42 students were arrested because they attacked security
\npersonnel after being asked to disperse peacefully.<\/p>\n
Some 150 student demonstrators clashed with security personnel
\nwhen the latter tried to disperse the students, who were
\ndemonstrating outside the provincial legislative council
\nbuilding. Several demonstrators pelted stones at security
\npersonnel.<\/p>\n
The students had marched 12 kilometers from their campus in
\nAbepura to the legislative building, where they held a free-
\nspeech forum.<\/p>\n
Holding aloft a picture of the late Theys Hiyo Eluway, former
\nchairman of the proindependence Papuan Presidium Council (PDP),
\nand antigovernment banners, the demonstrators raised their hands
\nand gave victory signs and sang a Papuan folk song to attract
\nattention.<\/p>\n
Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok K., chief of the Jayapura Police, said
\nonly a few demonstrators had been detained and that the majority
\nof them would be released after police finished questioning them.<\/p>\n
\"We just want to know who coordinated the demonstration and
\ntheir political aspirations, because the legislature is closed on
\nSaturdays,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Two demonstrators, identified as La Ali Kudu from Cendrawasih
\nUniversity and Demianus Wariman from a private university in
\nJakarta, have been arrested for the roles they played in
\ncoordinating the demonstration, he said.<\/p>\n
Totok said the demonstration was part of a series of
\nantigovernment rallies that the students held over the last seven
\ndays without notifying the police.<\/p>\n
\"The police do not prohibit students from holding
\ndemonstrations, but they should first notify the police for
\nsecurity reasons and in accordance with the law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
During the free-speech forum, the students expressed their
\nopposition to special autonomy, which takes effect as of January
\n2002.<\/p>\n
They called on local authorities to allow them to conduct a
\nreferendum to determine whether or not the Papuan people
\nsupported special autonomy.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators, mostly from state Cendrawasih University in
\nAbepura, called on the provincial legislature to amend history
\nbooks concerning Irian Jaya's integration into Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators also demanded that an independent team that
\nincludes foreign parties be established to investigate Theys'
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
Theys was found dead in the border area between the province
\nand Papua New Guinea on Nov. 11, 2001 after he was abducted by
\nunidentified men a day before. Theys' driver, Aristoteles Masoka,
\nwho witnessed the abduction, is missing.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expected to issue a
\npresidential decree to set up a national commission to
\ninvestigate Theys' death.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-clash-with-police-in-jayapura-1447893297",
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