Protesters end Dutch embassy sit-in

Protesters end Dutch embassy sit-in

JAKARTA (JP): Some 55 East Timorese and non-East Timorese protesters ended their two-day occupation of the Dutch embassy late afternoon yesterday and were immediately bussed to the South Jakarta Police Precinct.

One of the protesters had to be helped by friends as they left the embassy compound in the Jl. Rasuna Said area for the two buses provided by the police, witnesses said.

A Dutch embassy official accompanied the protesters to the police precinct. It was not immediately clear what concessions they secured in return for leaving the embassy.

They had made three demands: a referendum on the question of East Timor's integration with Indonesia, a withdrawal of all troops from the territory and the release of all East Timorese political prisoners.

They had also sought government assurances of their safety once they come out of the embassy.

South Jakarta Police Precinct Chief Lt. Col. Silvanus Wenas was on standby outside the embassy almost all through the day as the embassy officials negotiated with the protesters. He was seen going and out several times.

"We're not involved in the negotiations," he told reporters.

The agreement was reached less than an hour after human rights campaigner H.J.C. Princen came to join the negotiations which lasted more than four hours.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Police headquarters yesterday released all 57 protesters who had broken into the Russian embassy on Thursday, after having held them for questioning for almost 24 hours.

They were not charged.

A police official said that it was up to the Russian embassy on whether or not to press charges, because the protesters forced their way into its sovereign territory.

The two embassy break-ins occurred at almost the same time in the early hours on Thursday. (01)