Brutal treatment of protesters and journalists deplored

Brutal treatment of protesters and journalists deplored

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association (PBHI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists
(AJI) condemned on Friday security personnel's brutal treatment
of student demonstrators and journalists.

PBHI said in a statement that it would sue the Jakarta
military commander and the city police chief for the security
personnel's alleged brutality.

"We demand that the chiefs of the security personnel
responsible for the incident be fired. We also call for a
thorough investigation of the incident," the statement said.

Dozens of students, three photographers and one journalist
were injured in violent clashes between protesting students and
security personnel in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

AJI strongly condemned the beating of the photographers and
journalist, who had shown their press cards.

"The journalists were only there to record the facts and did
not intend to undermine the Armed Forces. Whether the security
personnel deserve condemnation or praise depends on how they
behave," the statement said.

The journalists beaten by security personnel were reporter
Toto Irianto from Pos Kota daily, Jawa Pos daily's photographer
Agus Wahyudi and Detak tabloid's photographer Rusman. AFP
photographer Eddy Purnomo also suffered minor injuries after
being hit by stones allegedly thrown by students.

At Husada Hospital in West Jakarta, Toto Irianto said on
Friday that he was beaten even after he had shown his press card
and shouted that he was a reporter. He quoted a soldier as
saying, "It is you people who drive us into a corner (through
your reports)." The soldier even challenged Toto to write down
his name.

Iin Farida, Toto's wife, said a spokesman from the Army had
come to visit Toto. The spokesman expressed apologies and said
that the soldiers were only human. "I told him that this incident
does not concern only my husband and this should never happen
again," Iin told The Jakarta Post.

Toto, a father of two, was beaten on the back of his head and
kicked in his legs and back.

The Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association
(PWI) also deplored the incident. It urged all parties to avoid
violence and uphold the principle of mutual respect, especially
in dealing with journalists working in the field.

Meanwhile, 17 students were found guilty by the Central
Jakarta District Court on Friday and fined Rp 2,000 (25 U.S.
cents) each for participating in an illegal rally on Jl.
Proklamasi in Central Jakarta. One student was found not guilty.

The 17 students from various universities grouped under the
United Students Committee denied that they took part in the
rally. They claimed that they were arrested on the campus of ABA-
ABI Foreign Language and Banking College on Jl. Matraman Raya,
East Jakarta at 4 p.m.

Although two police officers who testified at the trial could
not identify the students, the presiding judges, Judge Pangeran
Siregar and Judge Hupoyo, found 17 of the defendants guilty.

Dozens of the defendants' colleagues booed as the judges' read
out their verdicts.

At least 200 students attended the trial. Some of them waited
outside the courtroom, singing and giving speeches.

The defendants immediately decided to appeal the judges'
verdicts.

"This was an engineered trial to end student protests," one of
the students' lawyers, Pablo Christalo, said.

Pablo, from the Student Movement Lawyer Team, said the judges
did not consider the students' testimonies and based their
decisions only on the police dossiers.

He also said the two police officers, identified as Yustiansah
and Sarwanto, gave contradictory testimonies.

Yustiansah told the court that the students were arrested on
Jl. Proklamasi, while Sarwanto said that the students were
arrested on Jl. Matraman, he said.

The students, who were accompanied by 20 lawyers, told the
court that they were beaten and kicked by soldiers and riot
police at the ABA-ABI campus.

Two of the defendants suffered bruises around their eyes and
still seemed to be in pain as they covered their eyes with towels
during the trial.

"We don't deal with the police's treatment of you. We just
examine whether you took part in the rally or not," Judge Siregar
said.

Heri Julianto, one of the students on trial, was found not
guilty.

Seventeen of the defendants were found guilty of violating Law
No. 9/1998 on freedom of speech and Article 510 of the Criminal
Code on conducting a rally without police permit.

The defendants arrived at the court at 1:30 p.m., where they
were greeted by their supporters who had arrived at 10 a.m.

Azet Hutabarat, one of the students' lawyers, said on Friday
that the 18 defendants were among the 30 students arrested during
Thursday's rally.

He said one female senior high school student, identified as
Saraswati, was released on Friday because she was only 15 years
old, while the other 11 students were still being detained at
city police headquarters.

Nine of the 11 students were charged with violating Article
170 of the Criminal Code on vandalism, while the remaining two
students were charged with violating Article 160 of the Criminal
Code on slandering government officials, he said.

Meanwhile, City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman
said on Friday that security personnel had to disperse Thursday's
rally because the students had not given prior notification to
local police.

"I don't think it's difficult to notify local police before
staging a protest. We'll help secure the event and manage traffic
so as not to disrupt public order," Noegroho said. (jun/emf)