Busy airport, rallies defy doomsday rumors
JAKARTA (JP): A busy airport, noisy street rallies and scores of armed police and military personnel on main thoroughfares colored the capital on Thursday, Sept. 9, or 9/9/99.
Despite doomsday rumors and fears, the day with the unusual date passed without serious incident.
A clash between student protesters and riot police at the Taman Ria flyover near the House of Representatives in Central Jakarta left at least four students slightly injured.
The United Nations office on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, which was the site of protests over the past few days, was quiet on Thursday.
The Australian Embassy, on the other hand, was protested by members of Pijar, who demanded the Australian government be held responsible for the problems in East Timor.
The rally, which attracted employees from nearby offices, lasted a half hour before the protesters peacefully dispersed.
At Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, dozens of Chinese- Indonesians and their families waited for flights to neighboring countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
They said they were leaving the country before the situation deteriorated, adding that the May 1998 riots taught them a lesson about how to protect their lives, families and property.
Rifmi Wijaya, 41, a resident of Warung Buncit, South Jakarta, said he, his wife and their three children decided to go to Singapore after hearing rumors that the capital would be rocked by riots on Thursday.
"My wife and two children will stay at our relative's house in Singapore. I'll be there only for two days," Rifmi said.
"We can never forget what happened during the May riots. Ethnic Chinese like us will always be easy targets in such mayhem," he said.
The clash at the Taman Ria flyover ended with police bringing scores of students from the Unity Forum to city police headquarters for questioning.
Four students were injured in the clash. Two of the students, identified as Joshua from National University and Irma from Trisakti University, were treated for minor injuries to the head and stomach at nearby Mintohardjo Navy Hospital.
The other two students, Noviosi and Darmawan, both from Budi Luhur University, were reported to have been taken to the city police headquarters in Central Jakarta for questioning.
Pascal Irianto of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said 10 PBHI lawyers would provide legal aid to the detained students.
During the noisy rally, the students demanded the government cancel the state security bill, which they alleged would lead to violations of human rights.
Before reaching the House, the protesters were blocked by some 1,000 riot police.
Four other rallies protesting the state security bill also took place.
The rallies were organized respectively by Jakarta's Student Senate Communication Forum, Moestopo Student Action Union, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and 21 organizations, including the Indonesian Journalists Alliance, Nation Solidarity, the Muslim Student Union and the Indonesian Catholic Student Union.
One of the protesters, Arnold Purba, said the demonstrations against the state security bill were just the initial step in the people's movement against the government.
He said the movement would reach its climax a few days before the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly scheduled for November.
Meanwhile, about 100 people calling themselves the Sons and Daughters of Veterans of East Timor's Seroja Military Operation, staged a protest at the back entrance of the House.
The protesters condemned President B.J. Habibie and demanded that he take responsibility for the fact that "East Timor is no longer a part of the nation".
One of the protesters, Amir, said he remembered his mother telling him stories about how the heads of the Indonesians who struggled for the integration of East Timor were cut off and kicked around like footballs.
"When I grew older, she told me that one of the heads was my father's," Amir said.
Separately, Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman condemned the Wednesday incident at the Australian Embassy, where a protesting student entered the embassy compound and lowered the Australian flag.
The "shameful" act was "against Indonesia's existing regulations", the two-star general said.
"Entering the compound of any embassy is totally wrong. I urge all city residents to please act with cool heads. Do not display such horrible behavior," Noegroho said.
"In terms of nationalistic feelings, I respect the students. But entering an embassy and lowering a foreign flag, or even burning foreign flags as was done at the UN office, is a violation of existing regulations," he said.
Noegroho also denied the police were lax in securing the embassy and investigating the incident. No arrests have been made in connection with the case. (41/03/04/edt/ylt/bsr)