Students stage more protests<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A string of major student protests were held in
\na number of cities yesterday, but security was notably more lax
\nthan for previous days of demonstrations.<\/p>\n
On the campus of Lampung University in Bandarlampung -- where
\nstudents and riot police clashed and 60 students were arrested on
\nThursday -- 300 students continued with their demands for lower
\npriced basic commodities, political reform and the replacement of
\ncontroversial new cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n
The rally passed peacefully amid light security, Ibrahim
\nBastari from the Lampung Legal Aid Foundation told The Jakarta
\nPost in a telephone interview yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim said that seven students were continuing with a hunger
\nstrike, which they began Thursday, to draw attention to their
\ndemands for reform.<\/p>\n
Students are enraged at the government's handling of the worst
\neconomic crisis to hit the country in decades. They also want
\ndemocratic reforms and believe the newly established cabinet,
\nwhich includes Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti
\nRukmana, is nepotistic.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar repudiated
\nreports that several middle-ranking police officers had been
\ntaken hostage by students in exchange for their detained
\ncolleagues yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"There is no hostage situation. What really happened was that
\nfour officers went onto the campus to have a discussion with the
\nstudents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Da'i claimed that some reporters misunderstood the situation.<\/p>\n
\"There were some students who yelled during the protest:
\n'Let's take these police hostage in exchange for our friends.'
\nBut that was only a bluff. They did not really do it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Students also held rallies in Surakarta, Central Java, and in
\nJakarta yesterday.<\/p>\n
Some 9,000 students gathered at the Sebelas Maret University
\nin Surakarta, watched by 1,000 security officers outside the
\nuniversity grounds. The students came from Yogyakarta, Semarang,
\nSalatiga and Sukoharjo.<\/p>\n
At least two armored vehicles and dozens of military trucks
\nwere seen near the university.<\/p>\n
Scuffles between the students and security personnel broke out
\nduring a demonstration on Tuesday and dozens of students required
\nmedical attention for bruising.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, 50 students staged a free speech forum at the
\nJakarta office of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Students
\non Jl. Cilosari, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
They demanded that the People's Consultative Assembly convene
\na special session if the government fails to overcome the severe
\neconomic crisis within six months.<\/p>\n
Student leaders also demanded dialog with the President,
\nrather than with the military, as Armed Forces Commander Gen.
\nWiranto recently offered.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said he had instructed all levels of the military to
\nbe prepared to meet and talk with student groups.<\/p>\n
\"We want a dialog with the number one man,\" Irfan Gani from
\nthe University of Indonesia's School of Economics told assembled
\njournalists.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said the Armed Forces headquarters will begin to
\nactively seek to help the government settle the monetary crisis
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We will either visit university campuses to hold dialog with
\nthe students, or invite them to the Armed Forces headquarters for
\nthe same purpose,\" he told reporters after a ceremony to install
\nLt. Gen. Fachrul Razi as the new Armed Forces Chief of General
\nAffairs and Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the new Armed
\nForces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said his office had already received numerous requests
\nfor dialog from students and other groups in society.<\/p>\n
\"However, we need time to make the necessary arrangements for
\nthe dialog,\" he said. \"We have started dialog with students...but
\nwe now need to intensify it due to the crisis.\"<\/p>\n
Addressing the ceremony, Wiranto called on the nation to
\nremain patient in the face of hardship, and allow the government
\nto work to settle the crisis.<\/p>\n
\"No one should distract the government from efforts to bring
\nthe nation through the monetary crisis,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Susilo said that dialog could also be held in any regional
\nmilitary command or police office across the country.<\/p>\n
Clashes between security forces and students have left dozens
\nof students injured in Surabaya, Surakarta, Bandung and Lampung
\nover the past weeks.<\/p>\n
Security officials have warned they will not tolerate street
\nrallies but will allow demonstrations within university grounds.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation denounced the military on
\nThursday for its use of force in breaking up some protests. It
\nsaid security forces had violated campus autonomy and other human
\nrights. (har\/cst\/imn\/byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-stage-more-protests-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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