Commemoration of 1998 shooting marred by clash

Commemoration of 1998 shooting marred by clash

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of university students taking part in a
commemoration of the May 12, 1998 fatal shooting of four Trisakti
University students clashed with security personnel while
rallying near the residence of former president Soeharto on
Friday evening.

Witnesses and police said at least 15 people, consisting of
three journalists, two students and 10 policemen, were wounded in
the head by flying stones during the clash.

The protesting students, who were blockaded by troops while
attempting to get closer to Soeharto's residence, became enraged
and burned the Megaria Police post and vandalized many public
facilities, such as flower pots, along Jl. Diponegoro.

The clash, which started at 7:40 p.m. ended some two hours
later when the students decided to disperse.

Most of the protesters, who were demanding that Soeharto be
held accountable for his alleged wrongdoings and a series of
human rights violations, including the May 12 incident, were
members of City Forum (Forkot) student organization and students
from several universities, such as Bung Karno University and
Muhammadiyah University,

According to the chief of the Jakarta Police Operational
Control, Col. Soenarko, who was at the scene, his men detained "a
number of people".

He, however, refused to elaborate.

Separately, police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis announced
that six people had been arrested. He also said two police posts
had been set on fire by the students.

Zainuri said the clash caused a loss of some Rp 30 million
(US$3,750).

An Antara reporter and a TPI television crew member were
injured in the melee. A TPI camera was also damaged.

Unlike protesters on the streets, thousands of students of
Trisakti University peacefully commemorated the four students
killed in the bloody shooting on May 12, 1998 by staging a series
of events throughout the day.

Hundreds of students from other universities and student
organizations, including the Network of Indonesian College
Students (JMI) -- a joint association of several leading
universities across the country -- also joined the events at the
campus in Grogol, West Jakarta, some five kilometers from the
House of Representatives complex.

The first event started in the morning when Trisakti
University rector Toby Muthis dedicated a four-pillar silver
monument in the front garden, a memorial to the four students --
Hendrawan, Hafidin Royadi, Heri Hartanto and Elang Mulya Lesmana
-- lost in the May 12 tragedy.

Designed by two students from the university's school of
architecture, the May 12 monument depicts traces of bullets in
each of the pillars, with heights ranging from 10 meters to 12
meters to indicate the dates of the events leading up to and
including the tragedy.

The five sides of each pillar represent the month and the 98
slabs of stone scattered about the pillars signify the year.

During the day, the students participated in an open dialog
with former student activists, Andi Mallarangeng and Hariman
Siregar. They discussed Indonesian student movements, their
objectives and impact on society.

At about 1 p.m., after the Muslim Friday prayer, the rector
marked the beginning of construction work on the campus mosque,
also dedicated to the four reform heroes.

The 1,140-square-meter mosque will be named Asy-Syuhada, the
Arabic term for heroes who die in a holy war.

Later in the afternoon, some of the students left the campus
and staged protests at the Ministry of Defense and at Soeharto's
residence in Cendana, both in Central Jakarta.

Dozens of local police were seen on guard around the Trisakti
campus, but no clashes were reported as all the students
dispersed peacefully. They later returned to their campus for a
"night of contemplation".

The commemoration ended with a performance of famous singers
and musicians Chrisye and Erwin Gutawa.

The May 12, 1998 tragedy began when thousands of students,
mostly from Trisakti University, dubbed by many as the school for
the wealthy, staged a peaceful antigovernment protest around
their campus.

When attempting to march through the House building, they
were blocked by lines of armed riot police and military
personnel.

There was a brief standoff as students and security officers
negotiated a peaceful solution. They had just reached an
agreement in which both students and soldiers agreed to pull back
simultaneously, when the shooting began.

The case has twice been brought to the courts, which failed to
determine responsibility for the shooting: the police or the
Army.

The parents of Heri, Elang and Hafidin, who attended a media
conference held at the campus, showed their disappointment at the
government's failure to reopen the case.

"The President has yet to show his willingness to open the
case. We just hope that a trial can be conducted soon and will
successfully uncover the real masterminds," said Enus Yunus,
Hafidin's father. (09/nvn)