Violence mars student demonstration in Medan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Students in Medan threw Molotov cocktails at
\nsecurity personnel who responded with volleys of tear gas and
\nrubber bullets yesterday as more than 20,000 protesters
\nthroughout the country continued their demonstrations for
\nreforms.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, the capital of West Java, however, tension
\ndissipated when both student protesters and security personnel
\ntook a break to watch a concert by controversial musician Harry
\nRoesli.<\/p>\n
The violence in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, broke out
\nwhen students at St. Thomas Catholic University attacked security
\npersonnel with Molotov cocktails and stones after being prevented
\nfrom marching onto the streets.<\/p>\n
The 1,000 students also burned tires at their campus gate.
\nThey dispersed after riot police used rubber bullets and tear gas
\nagainst them.<\/p>\n
At least one student was rushed to a nearby hospital after
\nfalling unconscious from the gas.<\/p>\n
\"This was the most violent demonstration here in the last few
\nmonths,\" said Katarina, an economics student at the university.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, State Secretariat Administration Bureau Chief
\nShodiq received a letter and a single orchid from two Mercu Buana
\nUniversity students, Faizal Assegaf and Abdul Rohman, to be
\ndelivered to President Soeharto.<\/p>\n
In the letter, the students urged Soeharto to speed up
\neconomic normalization because the current situation was too
\ndifficult for ordinary people to bear.<\/p>\n
Security officers soon closed the gates and tightened control
\naround the complex. The twenty students, who claimed to represent
\n1,500 colleagues, left the office soon afterward.<\/p>\n
About 500 students of the private Nasional University in
\nJakarta clashed with police when they were prevented from
\nmarching onto the streets.<\/p>\n
Traffic jams were unavoidable and most shops were closed in
\nUjungpandang, the capital of South Sulawesi, when thousands of
\nstudents from various universities, including the state-owned
\nHasanuddin University, marched peacefully on the city's main
\nstreets after saying their Friday prayers.<\/p>\n
They visited the graves of Muh Tasrif and Sultan Iskandar, who
\nwere killed in a clash between students and the military during a
\nprotest against transportation tariffs in April 1996.<\/p>\n
Wirabuana Command chief Maj. Gen. Agum Gumelar pointed out
\nthat yesterday's march was still tolerable because the protesters
\nvoiced the people's dissatisfactions against the government.<\/p>\n
\"Their demand to lower prices and to alleviate corruption and
\ncollusion is an aspiration shared by all people,\" Antara quoted
\nAgum as saying yesterday.<\/p>\n
Agum, responsible for security in Sulawesi, is the only
\nregional commander who allowed street marches.<\/p>\n
\"I respect and will not block the expression of positive
\ninformation through demonstrations,\" Agum pledged.<\/p>\n
In Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, 700 Sam Ratulangi
\nUniversity students held a free speech forum at their campus.<\/p>\n
Student senate chairman Iwan Setiawan Lantang read out a
\nstatement condemning the infiltration of certain people into the
\ncampus. The \"infiltrators\" allegedly beat several students during
\na protest Monday.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, students and unemployed
\nyouths held separate protests during which they demanded
\nPresident Soeharto enact political and economic reforms.<\/p>\n
Students of the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology
\n(ITB) also held a free-speech forum after their Friday prayers.<\/p>\n
Uniformed police officers watched them. A heavy downpour
\napparently made them confident that the students would not hold
\ntheir assembly long. As it turned out, however, the students
\nremained and were drenched before they dispersed peacefully.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, 20,000 Moslem students were joined by laborers,
\nhousewives and pedicab drivers in a peaceful demonstration for
\nreform at Gadjah Mada University. (21\/43\/30\/37\/nur\/23\/44\/prb\/swa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/violence-mars-student-demonstration-in-medan-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}