3,500 rallies were held nationwide in 1998

JAKARTA (JP): The nation witnessed over 3,500 rallies in various places across the country in 1998, according to a police year-end report.

It is the largest number of rallies in the country over the past three decades.

Students took the lion's share as rally organizers. According to police data, students staged 1,995 demonstrations, followed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with 1,287 rallies and workers with 496.

As the capital, Jakarta recorded the largest number with 434 student rallies, 277 NGO demonstrations and 107 worker protests, the National Police announced on Friday.

Two other places that saw many students rallies in 1998 were Central Java (174) and West Java (145). Central Java and South Sulawesi were billed as two other top places for voicing demands, with 103 and 90 rallies respectively.

The police also said the biggest number of worker rallies was recorded in Central Java (59) and West Java (49).

In his year-end speech, National Police chief Let. Gen. Roesmanhadi urged people "to respect and obey existing laws in order to avoid self-made laws to solve cases".

It was also announced that in 1998 the country witnessed 48 cases of rioting in many cities, including Jakarta (23) and North Sumatra, Central and West Java (each with three riots).

The police also recorded 10,825 people killed in 13,881 road accidents in 1998, a significant drop from the previous year's record of 12,308 fatalities in 17,101 incidents.

Material losses rose to Rp 23.7 billion from 1997's Rp 21.3 billion, police data says.

"We learned that human factors still play the greatest role in a large number of traffic accidents in this country," Roesmanhadi said. (bsr)