Busy airport, rallies defy doomsday rumors

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)