Rallying students clash with troops

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)