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)