Injured student in critical condition

Injured student in critical condition

JAKARTA (JP): Steven Suripatty, the university student who was
shoot by soldiers on Friday during a clash with demonstrators in
Jayapura, Irian Jaya, remained in a coma yesterday as community
leaders strongly condemned the irresponsible actions of the
military personnel responsible.

Dr J. Oyong, head of the general hospital in Jayapura, said
the law student remained in a critical condition after undergoing
an operation.

He was shot just below his left ear and is now under close
observation in the intensive care ward.

Steven's parents live in Kaimana, about 900 kilometers
southwest of Jayapura, and are expected to arrive here today.

Meanwhile, high school student Korina Onim was reportedly
making good progress following an operation on the bullet wound
she suffered to her leg.

According to Antara, the incident occurred when students were
holding a protest rally in front of the Cendrawasih University on
Friday.

A military intelligence officer was apparently caught trying
to infiltrate the student crowd and beaten up.

In the ensuing melee, soldiers standing guard at a distance
fired shots to ward off the students.

It is unclear how Korina was wounded because she was standing
500 meters away in the Theological School grounds.

The intelligence officer, Sgt. Dahlan, also remained in
hospital yesterday.

Despite a prompt apology and a promise from the Jayapura
Military Commander Col. Josef Samuel to conduct a full
investigation into the incident and bring those responsible to
justice, criticism of the military's flagrant use of firearms
against the students poured in yesterday.

The head of the Irian Jaya Community Foundation, Theis Eluay,
strongly condemned the shooting.

"The weapons used were purchased with taxpayers money and are
supposed to be used to protect the citizens of the country, not
to kill them," Eluay remarked in Jayapura yesterday.

The University's deputy rector Daan Dimara said that an
independent investigation team would be formed by a number of
non-governmental organizations grouped under an umbrella
organization called the Cooperation Forum.

The team would be formed as soon as approval was obtained from
Rector Frans Wospakrik, who was expected to return from an out of
town trip today, he added.

"I think we can start the process of forming the fact-finding
team on Tuesday," Daan said. (mds)