Idul Fitri no cause for joy among city's poor

JP/P.J. Leo

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

As many Jakarta residents come to terms with the increasing prices of basic necessities following the Oct. 1 fuel price hikes, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) has persisted with its protests of the government's policy.

Since Thursday, the first day of Idul Fitri partying, dozens of UPC members, claiming to be victims of the fuel policy, have been staging silent protests outside the presidential palace in Central Jakarta.

The protests are meant to remind both the government and the public of how the poor were most affected by the acute inflation.

With their bodies chained together in the protest on Saturday, the police had a hard time dispersing them. Officers were forced to break the locks, one by one (see photo).

"The police detained 24 protesters on Saturday. Our members are now being represented by lawyers from the Legal Aid Institute for Women (LBH Apik), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) as well as the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta)," UPC activist Ari Ujianto told The Jakarta Post.

Four of them were forced to take a urine test as the police suspected that they had been under the influence of drugs, he said.

He also claimed that the Central Jakarta Police had tortured 30 of the protesters that were detained after Friday's protests. Those 30 were released on Saturday afternoon.

"We have sent a complaint letter to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) over the bad conduct by the police," Ari asserted.

The rights commission and the police have an agreement that protesters who hold peaceful demonstrations must not be treated badly.

Despite the alleged mistreatment, UPC will continue with the more protests in the next few days.