Children hurt as parties clash in Yogyakarta

Children hurt as parties clash in Yogyakarta

YOGYAKARTA (JP): With campaign season nearing to a close,
clashes between supporters of rival parties and other acts of
violence continued to prevail on Tuesday.

A fresh brawl involving hundreds of supporters of Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and United
Development Party (PPP) flared up in Yogyakarta, leaving six
people, including two children, injured and two cars seriously
damaged.

To add insult to injury, a truckload of PDI Perjuangan
traditional artists plunged into a ravine in Jonggrangan village
in Kulonprogo regency, west of here, on its way home from a
rally. The accident killed one and seriously wounded four others.

Witnesses said the clash broke out when a PDI Perjuangan
motorcade was blocked by hundreds of PPP supporters on Jl. Wachid
Hasyim in Kauman area, long touted as a PPP stronghold, following
rumors that the PDI Perjuangan activists removed PPP banners and
attributes during their crosstown rally.

The mob attacked a car belonging to Ngadiran, 40, of Sewon
district in Bantul, who participated in the convoy along with his
seven-year-old son Danang and four-year-old daughter Dita. The
three were injured by falling shards of glass from the car
windows.

PPP supporters also stabbed Dike Nugroho and his relative
Tyas Purbo Nugroho, who were driving home to Bantul from
Semarang. The two youths claimed they were not PDI Perjuangan
supporters but decorated their car with the party attributes for
safety reasons.

Another PDI Perjuangan activist, Poncol, suffered stab wounds
to his left arm in a separate clash against PPP rivals in
Jlagran, a northern part of the sultanate town.

Except Poncol, all the victims were admitted to Bethesda
Hospital but were discharged later in the day.

Hundreds of police and military troops were deployed to
restore order. They fired at least three warning shots to
disperse the warring groups.

The situation remained tense in the evening, with security
personnel guarding Kauman in anticipation of a possible vendetta
of PDI Perjuangan supporters.

Yogyakarta Police deputy chief Col. Erwin MAP presided over a
peace agreement between the conflicting parties in a Kauman
mosque hours after the clash, the third to involve them in the
past three months. The previous clashes killed two PDI Perjuangan
supporters.

Some 125 kilometers away to the north, a PDI Perjuangan
activist, Cahyo Waji, was shot in his left foot by an
unidentified person during a motorcade on Jl. Siranda in
Semarang, the capital of Central Java. The 22-year-old man was
rushed to Telogorejo Hospital, but discharged later in the day
after receiving medical treatment.

Local police confirmed afterwards Cahyo was not wounded by
police nor military weapons. The police are investigating the
shooting, the first ever to happen in the town.

Blood marred the party's last campaign in Semarang as another
party supporter, Winarno, 37, fell to his death from a truck
during a parade on Jl. Sriwijaya and an unidentified woman was
hit by a car joining a motorcade on Jl. Mataram. She was admitted
to Panti Wiloso Hospital.

Earlier on Monday evening, nine people, including two
policemen, were injured in a clash between PPP supporters and
their National Mandate Party (PAN) rivals in Kadrenan village in
Klaten, also in Central Java.

Head of PPP's Klaten office, Sutopo, said Tuesday the melee
erupted when masses of the two rival parties met on their way
home from campaign rallies. Exchange of mudslinging turned into a
war of stones, according to Sutopo.

Police were summoned to the scene to intervene, but two of
them were struck with flying stones. However, no serious injuries
were reported.

Sutopo said the two groups had made peace.

There were more reports of violence, including that targeting
election monitoring volunteers. (44/23/har)