Dozen injured in violent clash between students and troops

Dozen injured in violent clash between students and troops

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of students, three photographers and one
reporter were injured in violent clashes between protesting
students and security personnel in Central Jakarta on Thursday
afternoon.

No gunshots were heard during the pitched battles, which
allegedly broke out after students began to throw stones at
security forces at the busy Matraman crossroads.

At least 32 students, including three females, are being
detained at the headquarters of the Jakarta Police. They are
charged with staging a rally without giving prior notification to
the police as required by the existing law.

The one-hour clash, which occurred hours before United States
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in the capital,
began at around 2 p.m. when a group of some 150 students grouped
in the United Students Committee, a loose alliance of 10 student
organizations, marched from the University of Indonesia campus on
Jl. Salemba to Proclamation Monument on Jl. Proklamasi.

On their way to the monument, the students met another group
of protesting students, also numbering around 150, at the
Matraman crossroads.

The two groups marched together to the monument, where they
aired their demands for a transitional government and the
abolition of the Armed Forces (ABRI) dual sociopolitical role.

The situation became tense when dozens of police and soldiers
attempted to encircle and arrest the protesting students.

Attempting to escape, most of the students ran along Jl.
Matraman, heading back toward the Matraman crossroads, some 600
meters away.

At the crossroads a larger force of police and soldiers were
already on alert.

The situation worsened when some of the students began to
throw rocks at security personnel stationed at the crossroads.
The troops began to chase the students, striking those who were
caught.

Crazy

The soldiers and police were not deterred by demands from some
of the military police at the site not to beat the students.

The soldiers and police chased students onto the campus of
ABA-ABI Foreign Language and Banking College, into the office of
a travel agency and a musholla (small mosque), where the students
were attempting to hide.

"They (security personnel) struck the students on the campus
even after the students asked them for forgiveness," said
Syarifudin, a student at ABA-ABI, who witnessed the incident.

One of the doors of the musholla was broken by the troops in
their attempts to catch the students. Blood was also seen on the
floor of the musholla.

Two photographers, Ardilles and Dimas, were also beaten by the
troops before being released after showing their press cards.

Photographer Eddy Purnomo from AFP also suffered light
injuries after being hit by stones.

AFP reported last night that Eddy was injured by rocks thrown
by students.

A veteran reporter from Pos Kota daily, Totok Irianto, was
rushed to Husada Hospital with severe head injuries. He was
allegedly beaten by security personnel after attempting to stop
them from beating the students.

The clash on Thursday was the first violent battle between
protesting students and troops in the capital since the Dec. 17
battle in which some 80 students and 14 security personnel were
injured.

A smaller incident took place on Thursday after the troops had
dispersed.

Supported by local teenagers, some of the students threw
stones at two traffic policemen who were directing traffic at the
Matraman crossroads.

The two officers managed to escape without injury, but their
motorcycle was badly damaged by the students.

A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), Sabam Sirait, became involved in the battle when he
attempted to prevent soldiers from beating the students.

Ely Salomo of the United Students Committee condemned the
violence committed by the members of ABRI and demanded the
immediate release of the detained students.

"If the arrested students are not released by midnight on
Thursday we will hold a massive protest as soon as possible at
the headquarters of the Jakarta Police," he said. (01/emf)