Jakarta tense after flare-up

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of armed soldiers and police patrolled streets in Central Jakarta yesterday, amid tension following massive unrest triggered by the takeover of the disputed headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Using tear gas and canes, police charged at a crowd which attempted to stage yet another protest yesterday afternoon. They rounded up about 30 people from among the 200 who were gathering outside the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, bringing the number of people detained during the weekend to over 200.

Some 170 were arrested on Saturday. They were mostly loyal supporters of the ousted PDI chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri.

As of yesterday afternoon, thousands of people were still seen thronging the alleys along the Salemba area. At about 5 p.m., hundreds of people on motorcycles tried but failed to break through the police cordon to enter the Atrium Shopping center in the Senen district.

The military yesterday issued a stern warning against further attempts to disrupt peace and order. Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung blamed the rioting that took place after the clashes at PDI headquarters on "irresponsible persons or groups" who exploited the internal conflict in the minority party in an attempt to create anarchy and threaten the nation's stability.

Injuring dozens of people, the rioting started at about 7 a.m. on Saturday morning with the attack on the headquarters by a group of people wearing red bandanas and T-shirts emblazoned with the sentence "supporters of PDI 4th Congress in Medan".

Some 200 Megawati supporters were inside at the time of the raid. They were among the hundreds who had held vigil at the headquarters for the past month to prevent Soerjadi, the chairman elected by the government-supported PDI congress in Medan, from moving in.

Eyewitnesses said the group attacked by hurling stones and Molotov cocktails into the office, while riot police stood back watching. Those who were inside the building responded by climbing onto the roof and pelting their attackers with tiles.

Some two hours later, the attackers and the police stormed the building at Jl. Diponegoro 58. Minutes afterwards, those inside were brought out and led into several military trucks parked nearby.

Many were visibly injured and were taken in ambulances to the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital, Police Hospital in Kramatjati and another hospital in the Cikini area. The rest were taken to the Jakarta Police office for questioning.

Security personnel then cordoned off the area.

Chief of Central Jakarta Police office Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira said Soerjadi's faction requested that the police protect the office.

"I declared the headquarters closed as of 9 a.m.," he said on Saturday. "We have sealed off the office. No one is allowed to enter...We did not want any victims.

"We had asked that the Megawati supporters come out peacefully so that Soerjadi supporters could take over the office.

"But the Megawati supporters would not give up and the Soerjadi supporters went out of control. This is why we have taken over the office. We have taken Megawati's supporters to the city police headquarters because if we don't, there could be further clashes," he said.

Secretary-general of Soerjadi's faction, Buttu Hutapea, denied that violence was used in the takeover. "We've been patient enough. Had we wanted violence, we would have taken this place over days before, because it's been misused for too long," he said, referring to the daily, noisy free speech forum held there since Megawati's dethronement.

Later in the morning, hundreds of youths began gathering at the eastern end of Jl. Diponegoro. Their number swelled into the thousands as nearby residents and other people joined the throng.

The crowd began chanting "Long live Megawati" and insulted the two layers of riot police who stopped them from entering the section of street where the office is located.

Shouting abuse at the security forces, the group then began pelting the police with stones.

At about 3 p.m., the demonstrators pushed the troops back several yards with their stone hurling, but minutes later the troops retaliated and charged at the mass of people with teargas, rattan sticks and canes.

The troops beat spectators and passersby, injuring at least 20 people who were then taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

The driven mob vented their anger over the harsh treatment by burning three public buses in front of the hospital and St. Carolus Hospital.

The demonstrators then went on a rampage on Jl. Matraman Raya, setting several buildings on fire.

The military said yesterday that 22 buildings were either burned or damaged, including two buildings of Bank Harapan Sentosa in Cikini and Jl. Matraman, Bank Mayapada and Bank Swarsarindo Internasional, and two car showrooms. No fire brigades were sent to put out the fires.

Police and troops in a number of trucks and armored vehicles drove down the road. Every so often they climbed out of their vehicles to chase the rioters who pelted stones at them before quickly hiding in alleys along Jl. Salemba and Jl. Matraman.

The rampage went on until late Saturday night with the mob moving north, burning other buildings on the way, including the Bank Ekspor-Impor Indonesia and Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia near the Kramat-Senen intersection.

A man, reportedly a security guard, was trapped on the 7th floor of the Darmex building which housed Bank Eksim and tried to climb down through a window using a makeshift cloth rope.

He slipped and fell to his death.

Troopers charged at the mob for the second time on Saturday at about 10:30 p.m.

A peaceful demonstration in support of Megawati was also staged by a group of 2,000 people in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi on Saturday.

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Soon after the takeover of the headquarters, shops and offices in the surrounding areas were closed, including the cineplex in the nearby Metropole shopping/entertainment center.

The leadership of the Moslem-oriented United Development Party, the office of which adjoins the PDI headquarters, said in a statement that "the mass violence" was conducted by a group of people intent on disturbing peace and order and security.

A number of residents on Jl. Diponegoro expressed concern over the clashes at the PDI office and the ensuing rioting.

Mrs. Sumarti Budiardjo, wife of the late Lt. Gen. T.B. Simatupang, a former Army chief of staff who fought for democratic rule in the Indonesian military, and wife of the late first vice president Mrs. Rahmi Hatta were among those who could not leave their houses because of the trouble.

"The free speech forum was noisy...but I respect their (the supporters) rights," Mrs. Sumarti said.

"Soerjadi and his group should quit gracefully so that no innocent people become victims," Mrs. Rahmi Hatta was quoted by her daughter Meutia as saying before the morning clash. "(He should try to) withdraw the troops from the headquarters."

A private medical practitioner who was summoned to attend the wounded in the party headquarters said the place was "overflowing", with wounded people lying all over the place.

"I cannot say how many," Dr. Djarot H. said.

"I was forced to work, stitching up patients, amid a shower of stones...It was so strange that when the attack began the police did not do anything," he said. "I've never seen anything like this... I only managed to stitch up four people."

By noon, as all roads leading to the headquarters were closed off, the Matraman, Jatinegara and Kramat streets were congested. A taxi driver said it took him almost three hours to get from nearby Jatinegara to Cikini. (team)