Eight injured, 2 cars burned in UKI clash
Eight injured, 2 cars burned in UKI clash
JAKARTA (JP): At least six students and two police officers
were injured during a clash between protesting students and
troops in Cawang, East Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon.
Two flatbed trucks, reportedly from the Army Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad) and Mobile Brigade police, were set
ablaze during the violence.
Four students who sustained minor injuries were released from
UKI Hospital in the evening. Two others remain hospitalized.
They were identified as Parlindungan, 20, from the
university's economics school, who suffered contusions on various
parts of his body, and Enda Mukhlis, 17, a student from STM
Gautama high school, who suffered a rubber bullet wound to his
left leg.
The incident erupted at about 2:30 p.m. on busy Jl. Mayjen
Sutoyo in front of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI)
campus when students began hurling stones at military and police
officers who were blocking them from marching to the House of
Representatives (DPR).
According to Boni Aritona, head of the student board of the
economics school, about 700 students from the university intended
to march to the House to protest the draft bill on state security
when soldiers, police and civilian militia (KAMRA) arrived.
"I don't understand why the soldiers stopped us, they usually
don't," Boni said.
The clash erupted after negotiations with security personnel
failed, Boni said.
Security personnel fired tear gas and rubber bullets as they
chased students who retreated to the university campus.
The police arrested Parlindungan and took him to the
Jatinegara Police station.
Boni said he and several other students rushed to the police
station to pick up their friend.
"Police officers told me that they're willing to pay
Parlindungan's medical bills," Boni said.
Several student rallies were held at different spots across
the city on Tuesday, leading to traffic congestion in the areas.
Most of the rallies protested the bill on state security,
which critics denounce as draconian. It is expected to be
approved by legislators next week. (03)