Clashes, detentions mar protests

Clashes, detentions mar protests

JAKARTA (JP): Police briefly detained 40 student protesters
here yesterday while four others in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara,
were slightly injured as clashes between students and security
personnel continued in some parts of the country.

Police also confirmed Friday that one student was shot in a
violent demonstration Friday in Medan, the capital of North
Sumatra. During the demonstration, protesters threw Molotov
cocktails at riot police who responded by firing tear gas and
rubber bullets.

North Sumatra Police spokesman Lt. Col. Amrin Karim threatened
Thursday to punish any officers who had fired at student
protesters.

"We are still investigating who the shooter was. Shooting is
not allowed at all in facing student demonstrations. It is an
instruction from the National Police chief," Amrin said.

Ronalson Siahaan, a student of the Medan Institute of
Technology (ITM), allegedly suffered a gunshot wound to his left
hand from a police officer after students fiercely tried to break
up a police cordon blocking their way as they attempted to march
off their campus and onto the streets.

Two other students, Rudi Sarman Pasaribu and Asrul Aziz, were
reportedly still missing after being beaten by police officers in
the clash, according to Kompas.

This was the first shooting incident since students earnestly
began staging protests two months ago against the economic crisis
and the government's handling of situation.

Thousands of North Sumatra Islamic University (UISU) and
state-run North Sumatra University (USU) students yesterday
staged separate protests against the shooting and demanded that
police return their missing friends.

Elsewhere, police stepped up their efforts yesterday to
contain student rallies which have become increasingly bolder
with repeated attempts at bringing their protests onto the
streets in defiance of a police ban.

In the West Java city of Bogor, 5,000 students held a free
forum at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, during which they
criticized the government's handling of the economic crisis.

They also demanded economic and political reforms, sang the
national anthem and lowered the national flag to half mast to
signify their mourning over the crisis. Some also attempted to
climb over campus fences to move the rally onto the street, but
were prevented from doing so by nearby security personnel.

In Bandung, 1,500 students and new graduates of the Bandung
Institute of Technology (ITB) held a free speech forum in front
of the Sukarno monument after attending a graduation ceremony.
Sukarno, the country's first president, was an ITB graduate.
Uniformed security officers closely watched the students.

Forty Ibnu Chaldun University students in Jakarta were
questioned by police yesterday for disturbing order when they
brought their rally onto the streets to burn a mock coffin.

"They were briefly questioned, but they were not detained. We
will soon send their dossiers to court," City Police spokesman
Lt. Col. Aritonang said yesterday.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, three students as well as a
passerby were injured in a clash with antiriot personnel after
angry students threw stones at them for not allowing them to hold
their rally off-campus.

In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, four Wijaya Kusuma
students continued their hunger strike, which reached its third
day yesterday, to pressure the government to launch political and
economic reforms.

There have been hunger strike reports in the past, but
students have usually given up such protests after a few days,
arguing they would use more effective ways to channel their
protests.

In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, Minister of Justice
Muladi praised students for showing through their demonstrations
that they cared about the country's economic hardships. He was
quoted by Antara as saying that current demonstrations were
strong evidence that the learning process on Indonesian campuses
was quite successful.

Muladi, also rector of Diponegoro University in Semarang,
however, assured students that the government was not deaf to
their demands and that officials would work hard to resolve the
country's crisis.

"Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry
Ginandjar Kartasasmita works every day until as late as
midnight," Muladi told students during a brief dialog.
(21/edt/24/43/nur/prb)