Medan students tell police about protest

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of high school students in Medan who protest against their principal on Saturday at the local office of the Ministry of Education and Culture took the unusual step of obeying a new law and notified the police in advance.

Antara quoted them as saying that the police notification was in line with a requirement in the new law on freedom of expression.

Organizers of only a tiny minority of demonstrations have notified police. The vast majority have ignored the requirement, saying it lacks sensitivity of the natural outburst of expression following the fall of a repressive regime.

The protest by the students of the state-run SMU 7 demanded that their principal, Budiman Situmeang, be replaced and that the use of funds for the students' organization be transparent.

The protest was watched by police and did not disrupt traffic.

"We reported it to the police because we are aware of Law No. 9/1998," a student requesting anonymity said, "and also because we don't want our protest messed up if another party joins in."

The students said they were grateful to the police who helped secure the rally from their school to the ministry's office. The distance between the two buildings was not reported.

Residents commented that the rally was orderly despite the placard-carrying students making lots of noise.

The demonstrators said they were protesting their principal "and his cronies" who always asked for money from students.

They added the use of both school fees and payments for the school's organization, OSIS, was not transparent.

In addition, they said teachers' welfare was far from adequate.

Thirty of the students were met by the administrative coordinator of the office, Ali Taroni Hia; the head of the office, Dealey Zulhamly; and information officer Wanhar Lubis.

Taroni appealed to the students to be patient and wait for an official investigation of their allegations. (anr)