Protrests against press ban move off the streets

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)