24 arrested in labor protests face charges
24 arrested in labor protests face charges
SURABAYA (JP): The number of activists arrested rose to 24
yesterday as the massive student-led street labor protests
entered their second day here yesterday.
Chief of the Brawijaya local military command Maj. Gen. Imam
Utomo threatened to bring the student activists to court on
charges of subversion, which carries a maximum penalty of death.
The military singled out student activists of the Democratic
People's Party (PRD) as the prime movers of the industrial strike
that involved thousands of workers from 10 major factories.
Yesterday, the demonstration began at about 7. a.m. at Tandes
industrial estate where workers demanded that their daily wage be
raised to Rp 7,000 (US$3). The minimum daily wage for Surabaya
set by the government last April is Rp 5,200 (US$ 2,26).
The protest was halted after troops blocked the demonstrators'
way to the local manpower office in the heart of the city.
Clashes were unavoidable as troops forcibly dispersed them.
Student sources said most of the 24 detained protesters were
admitted to hospital suffering a variety of injuries.
Imam charged that students masterminded the demonstrations,
instigating workers into taking to the streets and insulting the
military.
He showed journalists two of the posters the troops said they
seized from the protesters. They read "Reject military
intervention" and "Only one option: Fight!"
"We will thoroughly investigate their (students') involvement.
If necessary, they will be charged with subversion," he said.
He said the 24 students from various universities in Java were
detained because they had illicitly distributed brochures,
instigating workers to revolt against the government.
In a statement signed by PRD leader Budiman Sudjatmiko, the
"party" demanded the overhaul of the political system, an end to
the military intervention in labor disputes and the dismantling
of the military's role in politics, Imam said.
The military commander said the students had politicized the
labor strike and meant to use laborers to achieve their political
agenda. They also charged that the government killed 2,000 people
in the aftermath of the 1965 aborted coup blamed on communists.
"The industrial action was no longer 'original' because they
were adulterated by people wanting to overhaul the whole
political system," he said.
In Monday's protest, the authorities rounded up 14 students.
They picked up 10 more yesterday.
"We would never had halted the rally if its genuine cause was
only asking for a raise,' said Imam, who also heads the East Java
internal Security Agency.
Antara put the number of protesters taking to the streets
yesterday at 4,000 while the Legal Aid Institute said that there
were more than 12,000 demonstrators.
Among those detained were Ditasari from the University of
Indonesia, Ricardo Simarwoto from the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah
Mada University, M.Rizal from the Malang-based Muhamadiyah
University and Lilik Astuti from the Surakarta 11 Maret State
University.
The Antara news agency reported there were no fatalities but
that the two students who led yesterday's rally were seriously
wounded. They were Zaenal Abidin from Wijaya Kusuma University
and Taufiqqurahman from Cokroaminoto University.
The local branch of the Legal Aid Institute demanded the
military release the protesters unconditionally.
"In our opinion the effort that has been made by the workers
and students to express their concern about the laborers' low
wages to the Ministry Manpower is democratic and legal," said the
institute's labor division chief, Teten Masduki. (06/15)