Minister, experts condemn Friday's act of violence

Minister, experts condemn Friday's act of violence

JAKARTA (JP): Cabinet member and experts strongly condemned
Friday's violent burning of military vehicles and abuse of
military officers by angry students and mobs in Salemba, Central
Jakarta.

They called for security authorities to begin taking stiff
measures against anyone, including students, who attempted to
commit such crimes.

"I really regret the incident. We now have to make clear
differences between what the students did on the previous days
and what they committed in Salemba on Friday," Attorney General
Marzuki Darusman told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

According to him, what the angry students and the mob did on
Friday could no longer be tolerated. Crime is crime, he said.

"We, of course, could not tolerate anything simply because of
frustration," Marzuki said over the phone.

He called the police to immediately start investigating the
vicious acts of the mob in Salemba and arrest all the suspects.

According to People's Consultative Assembly speaker, Amien
Rais, such a destructive protest is a deviation from the essence
of democracy and offends the symbols of democracy.

The mushrooming number of protests ending in wild acts could
jeopardize the meaning of democracy itself, he said on TVRI on
Sunday morning.

"People must educate themselves on how to obey the symbols of
democracy and eliminate any actions that could lead to anarchy,"
he said.

Hundreds of students, helped by youths and residents, ran amok
on Friday and vandalized at least five military vehicles and
other public facilities on Jl. Diponegoro and Jl. Salemba Raya in
Salemba, Central Jakarta.

According to the students, they were upset by police officers
who beat their colleagues and attacked the Christian University
of Indonesia (UKI) and YAI campuses during a clash after an anti-
Soeharto rally on the previous day.

The clash on Thursday took place after students stormed the
police with Molotov cocktails and stones and burned a newly
rebuilt police post.

Criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah from the University of
Indonesia said the methods carried out by the angry students on
Friday only tarnished their image with the public.

"How could they do such thing when they usually stage peaceful
protests. But I can still understand the students since they felt
they'd been badly hurt (by the police)," Mulyana told the Post.

Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu also
strongly criticized last Friday's actions in Salemba.

"As the city military commander, I cannot accept the act. It's
a violation of human rights because many of my soldiers, who were
going about their work, were wounded."

"Demonstrating is no problem as long as it does not cause a
loss to the people," he said.

Awaluddin Djamin, a former National Police chief and senior
diplomat, urged all important figures, including President
Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien
Rais, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and student
protesters as well, to condemn all brutal acts taking place in
this country.

"We all have to stop this and help the police carry out their
job arresting criminals," he told TVRI on Sunday evening.

Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi urged Jakartans on
Sunday to join efforts to minimize tension in the capital as his
men had found strong indications of certain parties attempting to
create chaos in the city.

"I strongly hope that the people would be willing to help us
secure Jakarta for the sake of everyone in the following months,"
he said.

In August, members of the People's Consultative Assembly are
going to submit a review on the performance of President
Abdurrahman Wahid.

Separately, students grouped in City Network (Jarkot), accused
the military of provoking people on Friday by deploying two
undercover officers to enrage street traders at nearby Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital so the latter could attack the UKI
campus.

In a news conference, Yervis of Jarkot said his colleagues,
who were already upset over police brutality, turned angry after
being told of the presence of the two officers.

Ryamizard and Mulyana believed that the Salemba incident had
been engineered by a third party.

According to Ryamizard, the mob was at the scene under the
order of someone who was paying the people.(bsr)