Protrests against press ban move off the streets
JAKARTA (JP): Protesters against the government ban on three news magazines appeared to have heeded the Jakarta Police warning to stay off the streets yesterday, taking their cause to the House of Representatives (DPR) instead.
About 300 people, comprising journalists and activists, demonstrated in the House compound without being interrupted while executives of two of the three magazines brought their case to legislators.
One of the groups that turned up at the DPR called itself the Group of the Voice of Women for Press Freedom. Some of its members, who arrived wearing Moslem veils, distributed paper flowers with messages deploring the press bans and the use of force by the police to quell demonstrations.
The protesters also channeled their emotions through posters which they laid out in the foyer.
This went on under the watchful eyes of a handful of both uniformed and plainclothes security officers who decided to let the protesters have their say.
Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Moch. Hindarto on Tuesday issued a stern warning that his forces would clamp down hard on illegal street protests, pointing out that police had to use force on Monday against two demonstrations in Jakarta after the protesters ignored repeated orders to disperse.
Meanwhile a group of prominent lawyers failed in their bid yesterday to see the National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro or his deputy Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, to protest the clampdown.
Todung Mulya Lubis, a leading human rights lawyer, said the meeting with Koesparmono was canceled at the last minute by the latter who said that he was busy with preparations for Police Day which falls on July 1.
Mulya had originally intended to be joined by other lawyers including Harjono Tjitrosoebono, Luhut Pangaribuan and Nursyahbani Kertasungkana to protest the police's handling of the demonstrations in Jakarta on Monday.
Equal treatment
"We wanted to appeal to the police to properly handle the demonstrations and give equal treatment to those who denounce the magazine bans and those who support it," Mulya said.
The handling of the demonstrators has been widely questioned with some even suggesting that the police had handed the matter over to the military to deal with the demonstrators.
This was quickly denied by the National Police yesterday.
Police chief spokesman Brig. Gen. I Ketut Ratta said the police remain in charge of handling street demonstrations.
He said as one of the services of the Armed Forces however, it is possible for the police force to cooperate with the other services, especially if a situation deteriorates.
"In that case, it is natural that police seek the cooperation of the military," Ratta said as quoted by the Antara news agency.
Witnesses recalled that some of the security forces wore T- shirts with Operasi Bersih (Operation Cleansing) written across the front. This is a unit of the Jakarta Military Command which was set up in April to crack down on criminals.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) yesterday released a statement denouncing the use of force by security officials at Monday's demonstrations.
The foundation said it had evidence that the protesters' offer to discuss their intentions with police was ignored. Instead security officers charged at the protesters with their rattan sticks, injuring some of the protesters in the process.
It also questioned Maj. Gen. Koesparmono's statement made on June 25 stating that police would not act against demonstrators as long as they did not disrupt peace and order.
Monday's demonstration had been peaceful until it was dissolved by force, it said.
Meanwhile, in the West Java city of Bandung, dozens of students of Padjadjaran University held an open forum inside their campus to denounce the violence used against demonstrators.
Some 21 artists, including musicians, poets, painters, meanwhile announced that they would take turns fasting, beginning yesterday, as a "transcendental" protest against the government's ban against the three magazines.
"Seeing the use of force being deployed recently, we don't have the courage to go to the streets anymore," said musician Harry Roesli, who was the first to fast yesterday.(emb/05/pan/hbk)