Dozens injured in student protests over fuel price rises
JAKARTA (JP): Clashes between students and security personnel across the country yesterday again resulted in injuries to dozens of protesters, including one who was shot in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, when police fired warning shots at demonstrators.
Economics student Arfah Syarif, 24, from the Indonesian Moslem University (UMI) was hit in his right arm and rushed to the '45 Hospital.
The incident started when students demonstrating near the campus entrance stopped a passing public bus on Jl. Urip Sumoharjo and forced passengers out. They then deflated the front tires.
Police on alert nearby intervened and tried to defuse the tension by talking to the students. The students reportedly responding by pelting stones at the police.
Ujungpandang police chief Police Col. Jusuf Manggabarani said the police were forced to fire warning shots in self-defense.
At least three other separate rallies were staged in the city yesterday by students from the state-run Hasanuddin University, the Ujungpandang Teachers Training Institute and the Alauddin Islamic Teaching Institution. No serious clashes were reported in these rallies but students burned tires to express their disgruntlement.
Fuel
Other major cities also witnessed more student protests yesterday. But a new theme was added to calls for political and economic reforms, as students vocally assailed the government's decision to raise fuel and electricity prices on Monday.
They angrily demanded that the hikes be revoked. Many others screamed for President Soeharto's accountability for leading the country into a dire crisis.
In Jakarta, police fired rubber bullets to disperse several hundred students from Mercu Buana University in West Jakarta. At least 16 students were reported injured.
Tear gas was directed at students who had pushed their demonstration onto the street in front of the campus and pelted police with stones.
An economics student, James Aldin Breemer, told The Jakarta Post that one of the injured students had to be rushed to Graha Medika hospital.
He claimed the clash erupted when security personnel used wooden sticks to drive students back to their campus.
He added that assistant rector Abdoel Fatah and one campus security officer were also injured and at least four cars were damaged.
Separately, a demonstration by students from Nasional University in South Jakarta also ended with a shower of rocks hurled at police.
Besides protesting the fuel price hike and the economic crisis, protesters condemned the military's harsh response to student rallies.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 students from private and state universities including the University of Indonesia, Pancasila University and the Institute of Social and Political Sciences, all in the Depok area, some 20 kilometers south of Jakarta, held a noisy but peaceful street rally on Jl. Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta, disrupting traffic for several hours.
Gathering at the Pancasila University, the students were only able to walk along a one-kilometer stretch before a police blockade of about 100 officers stopped them.
Cannons
In Yogyakarta, a water cannon was brought in to disperse 2,000 students from several universities who gathered on the Sanata Dharma University campus. Their protest spilled onto the street after they broke through the police cordon.
At least 15 students, a street vendor and an onlooker were injured while a car and a motorcycle were damaged as police pushed students back onto campus.
The students demanded that Sultan Hamengkubuwono X be brought before them to hear their concerns on the current state of the country.
Late last night, many students were still gathered on campus under the watchful eye of security officers.
Student protests were also recorded in Surabaya, East Java; Semarang, Central Java; Bogor and Bandung, West Java; and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.
All proceeded without a major incident or serious injuries.
But the protest by students from the Teachers Training Institute in Bandung caused a traffic jam for nearly two hours as they "occupied" Jl. Setiabudi. They eventually returned to their campus peacefully.
No clashes were reported.
DPR
Here in Jakarta, students of the Council for Organization Revival (Majelis Penyelamat Organisasi) of the Association of Moslem Students (HMI) and the Indonesian Institute of Technology (ITI) separately staged protests at the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday.
The first rally was held by about 300 HMI students, who demanded the House take the initiative to organize an extraordinary session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
The students also called on the government to revoke its decision to raise fuel prices.
Less than half an hour later, about 300 ITI students arrived at the House parking lot in 16 minibuses.
They came together with the drivers and conductors of the minibuses, serving the Ciputat-Prumpung route on the outskirts of South Jakarta, who went on strike yesterday to protest the fuel price increase.
The ITI students also urged legislators to initiate an extraordinary session. (team)