Dozens injured in student protests over fuel price rises

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)