51 protesters held for staging rally without notification
JAKARTA (JP): Police on Wednesday arrested a group of 51 student protesters for allegedly holding a street rally without prior notification as required by the new law on freedom of expression.
It was the second such arrest of student protesters in the last two days. On Tuesday, police arrested 158 (not 259 as reported earlier) student protesters during a rally outside the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto.
The 51 protesters, from the privately run Gunadarma University, were arrested while staging a "No to ABRI's dual function" rally behind the office of the Ministry of Security and Defense in Central Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.
The students, including 29 women, were transported to the Jakarta Police headquarters in a military truck amid tight security provided by policewomen and other military personnel.
"They will not be detained. We will only record their names and other identification while the police develop the case to see if there are any violations," information officer Maj. Nyoman Suryasta said.
The 158 students, including 150 females, who were arrested on Tuesday were released about five hours after they were taken into custody.
According to the new law on freedom of expression, anyone is allowed to stage a rally in a public space, however they must first give the police at least three days notification before holding the rally.
Similar to Tuesday's scene, the arrests of the Gunadarma students was met with strong objections from the protesters, and a clash eventually ensued.
Police claimed that at least two soldiers and two police were injured during the clash that started at 3:30 p.m. on Jl. Budi Kemuliaan in the rear of the ministry's office.
The clash began when the Gunadarma students, ignoring the security personnel's order to disperse, because they had not given the police prior notification of their rally, tried to force their way into the ministry compound.
Being pelted by stones, iron bars and golf sticks, the security officers fired at least three canisters of tear gas into the crowd of students.
According to the chief of the Gambir police station, Capt. Martuani, the two injured police officers have been admitted to the Soekanto police hospital in East Jakarta, while the two soldiers were being treated at the Gatot Subroto Army hospital in Central Jakarta.
"They were injured after being hit by golf sticks and iron bars pulled from the ministry's fence by the students," Martuani said.
Among the protesters, one female student was rushed to a clinic for treatment as she reportedly fainted as soon as the truck transporting her and the other arrested students entered the police headquarters.
Besides the students from Gunadarma, the city also witnessed other rallies on Wednesday, including a group of some 1,000 students from the Communication Forum of the Jakarta Student Senate (FKSMJ) and 800 students from the YAI accounting academy.
No other clashes were reported during these rallies. The FKSMJ students, attempting to stage protest at the Presidential Palace, were quickly blocked by security officers. The YAI students staged their rally at the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta.
Another small group of activists grouped from the Human Rights Concerned People Association expressed their demands by draping white banners in the trees along Jl. Sudirman, in Central Jakarta. (emf/edt)