Running street battles erupt after Soeharto walks

Running street battles erupt after Soeharto walks

JAKARTA (JP): Some 30 people were wounded in the capital on
Thursday in clashes between anti-Soeharto and pro-Soeharto
protesters and the police following the dismissal of corruption
charges against the former president.

Police stated that at least one anti-Soeharto protester was
killed in a clash with police personnel near the trial's venue at
the Ministry of Agriculture in Ragunan, South Jakarta. But police
could not identify the victim and there were no reports of any
bodies being taken to the hospital.

The clashes, which began near the ministry about 30 minutes
before the trial got underway at 10 a.m., continued late into the
night near the private residence of Soeharto on Jl. Cendana in
Central Jakarta, about 12 kilometers to the north.

A bus used by Soeharto's supporters, a military vehicle and
two police motorcycles were set ablaze at separate locations in
the capital by student protesters and spectators.

The demonstrators continued to rally at Megaria on Jl.
Diponegoro and Salemba area late into the night. Together with
locals who joined the demonstration, they beat a military soldier
and a police officer, and burned the military vehicle and a
police motorcycle.

As of late Thursday night, police had arrested at least 46
people in connection to the violence. All of those detained were
among the group demanding the former president be jailed
immediately for human rights abuses and economic crimes during
his 32 years in office.

During the clashes, 13 anti-Soeharto protesters, 10 pro-
Soeharto protesters, three journalists were injured.

Unlike the demonstrations which surrounded the first two
sessions of the Soeharto trial, police officers -- deployed at
the trial's venue and in Cendana -- were quick to react to
protesters. During the previous demonstrations, police showed
greater patience toward the anti-Soeharto demonstrators, mostly
university students from the City Forum (Forkot).

The first incident on Thursday took place around 800 meters
from the trial venue when spectators on Jl. T.B. Simatupang
chased and beat pro-Soeharto demonstrators who had arrived in a
public minibus, which the mob torched.

Jakarta Police spokesman Supt. M. Nur Usman said 10 of the
Soeharto supporters were badly injured in the incident and were
rushed to nearby hospitals.

The situation cooled down before approximately 1,000 anti-
Soeharto protesters from Forkot and activists from the Democratic
People's Party (PRD) arrived at about 1 p.m. by foot from two
separate directions.

They were blocked by a cordon of some 200 police officers, who
refused to allow the protesters to enter the ministry's compound.

After failed negotiations, the students began shouting and
several minutes later, as the rain poured down, a number of the
demonstrators pelted stones and Molotov cocktails at the police.
The officers then proceeded to march on the protesters, firing
tear gas and rifles to disperse the demonstrators.

The protesters fled in the face of the police charge,
scattering in different directions, including some who took
refuge in the homes of local residents.

Sporadic fighting continued for more than three hours as the
demonstrators continued to hurl stones at the police.

After the police pulled out, the demonstrators swept the area
and burned a police motorcycle parked nearby, ignoring the
protests of residents.

Two soldiers in uniform riding a motorcycle were stopped by
the demonstrators, some of whom attempted to grab the soldiers'
rifles. The soldiers fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

Shortly after the trial ended with all charges against
Soeharto being dismissed, a similar scene began to play out in
Cendana. Soeharto supporters arrived in the area at about 2 p.m.
aboard 16 minibuses, and groups of anti-Soeharto protesters began
appearing at dusk.

Some 500 anti-Soeharto protesters were greeted with rocks and
Molotov cocktails hurled by the Soeharto supporters near the
fountain on Jl. Teuku Umar, about 200 meters from the former
president's residence.

When the students fought back, the pro-Soeharto group
retreated behind the police lines, which had been established to
block the road to Jl. Cendana.

The anti-Soeharto demonstrators appeared ready to end their
rally and depart when hundreds of police officers began pursuing
them. The demonstrators attempted to escape by running up the
small Jl. Padalarang, only to find their way blocked by the
football field-sized Lembang pond.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control as dozens of
police officers moved in, arbitrarily firing tear gas into the
demonstrators. Several of the demonstrators attempted to jump
over the gates surrounding two homes near the lake.

As the situation deteriorated, some officers were seen angrily
shouting, ignoring their commanders' orders to stop firing.
Several police officers became so enraged they hurled their
batons at the houses.

At least 30 demonstrators were arrested and taken away in a
police truck. Ten couples who were parked by the lake became
caught up in the scene and jumped over a fence into the yard of
one of the houses before being taken into custody. They were
later released. (bby/jaw/dja)