Police beat student protesters

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Police personnel beat a number of student protesters for disrupting on Tuesday a plenary meeting of the provincial legislature.

Lombok Barat Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dani Wiswa Wardana said security troops used violence just to discipline the students. No arrest was made after police dispersed the rally held to protest the proposed provincial budget.

"We just try to maintain order and allow the meeting to take place without any disturbances," he said.

Initially, about 60 students and activists of non-governmental organizations attended the plenary meeting, which was open to the public. After a five-minute break, however, they began to disrupt the meeting by voicing their rejections of the proposed budget. Some took out posters from their bags which read, "Reject the 2003 provincial budget".

The councillors gave the students some time to express their concerns, but at the end of the meeting, the students resumed their boisterous protest against the budget.

Police then rushed into the plenary hall and dragged some of the students out of the room and started beating them. --Antara