Hunger strike staged to protest military

JAKARTA (JP): Seven students, including one female, began a hunger strike yesterday in protest of the military's handling of rioting in Ujungpandang, the capital of South Sulawesi, which led to the deaths of three students.

Calling themselves the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy, the students demanded that those guilty be punished as soon as possible.

"We'll have a sip of water if we can't stand the thirst, but we won't eat," said one of the students.

The students camped outside the Legal Aid Foundation and wore "Oposisi Indonesia" headbands. They set up posters and placards which said, among other things, "We demand justice for the students who became victims of military violence".

The students come from some of the most prestigious colleges in Indonesia, including the Diponegoro University in Semarang and Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

"We haven't heard whether the authorities will soon hold trials for those guilty in the demonstrations in Ujungpandang," said Nezar Patria, a student of philosophy from Gadjah Mada.

Chief of the Wirabuana regional military command Maj. Gen. Sulatin announced on Saturday that 12 officers would be court- martialled. His chief spokesman, Lt. Col. Mochtar Darise, said the proceeding would start at the end of this month.

The soldiers will be tried for what Sulatin called an "excessive response" to a flurry of violent demonstrations that involved an estimated 10,000 students from various universities in Ujungpandang.

Despite the fact that some military leaders admitted their soldiers "erred" and promised to take swift action against them, the waves of student protests over the case have continued.

Also yesterday, in Denpasar, Bali, a group of members of the Association of Catholic Students staged a noisy protest for the same cause.

They also criticized Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro for allegedly condoning the military's decision to move into the campuses during the rioting. (swe/prs/23)