Rallying students clash with troops
JAKARTA (JP): Around 3,000 students clashed with security personnel on their way to the House of Representatives (DPR) in Central Jakarta on Friday afternoon, where they planned to stage a demonstration to demand former president Soeharto be brought to trial for alleged corruption.
No fatalities were reported, but at least two police officers suffered serious injuries in the clashes, which were triggered after students to the rear of the marchers pelted stones at a force of 100 military and police personnel.
The clashes under the Senayan flyover on Jl. Gatot Subroto, about 500 meters from the House, broke out at 4:15 p.m. after protesting students grew frustrated after being prevented from marching on to the DPR.
Most students present on Friday were among those who occupied the DPR one year ago. This time last year, thousands of students turned the grounds of the DPR into one of the most enduring images of the tumultuous last days of former president Soeharto when they turned them into a sea of color in the days before and after the aging dictator was forced from office on May 21, 1998.
On Friday, the students attempted to gather outside the DPR in a bid to put further pressure on the government of President B.J. Habibie to bring his predecessor to the court for alleged misdeeds during his 32-year rule.
Among the student organizations present on Friday were the City Forum (Forkot), the Junior/Senior High School Students Alliance (API), the Communication Forum for Jakarta University Student Senates (FKSMJ), and Mercu Buana University Students.
The groups approached the House from the direction of the Semanggi cloverleaf between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
After being blocked for one hour, the students grew impatient and attempted to push back the security cordon. Some students staged free speech forums in front of the assembled police officers and soldiers.
The first clash broke out shortly after students to the rear of the group threw stones, bottles and sticks at the security personnel. Students near the cordon then jumped into the fray, hitting police officers and soldiers with flag poles.
In response, security officers beat a number of students with batons.
The incident took place only five minutes after both students and security personnel agreed to move further away from the DPR in an effort to reduce tensions.
At 5:05 p.m., the students began to attempt to fight their way through the security cordon using flag poles, stones, bottles and sticks.
Onlookers on the Senayan flyover also threw stones at the security personnel, who attempted to protect themselves using plastic shields.
Troops eventually fired tear gas canisters at the students before retreating back toward to the DPR building. Some tear gas canisters were thrown back at the security personnel by students clasping handkerchiefs to their faces.
When some students began to give chase to the retreating officers, warning shots were fired into the air.
Student leaders hastily tried to calm their angry colleagues, while Col. Arthur Damanik, a senior city police officer at the scene, ordered the security personnel not to seek revenge on the students.
At 6:15 p.m., the students dispersed peacefully, heading off to continue their protest at the Proklamasi Monument in Central Jakarta.
The first anniversary of the resignation of Soeharto was also celebrated in Bogor, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Ujungpandang.
Students of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) said Habibie had committed a major sin by not bringing Soeharto before the courts to answer for his actions while president.
Students from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta also staged a rally at their campus in Bulaksumur.
During the rally, organizers unfurled a giant white banner and asked students and passers-by to write down their grievances with Soeharto.
The chairman of the university's students senate, Huda Tri Yudiana, said the banner would be placed near Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Jakarta in the near future. (01/jun/nur/23/44/24/27/bsr)