Sick student vows to continue hunger strike
Sick student vows to continue hunger strike
JAKARTA (JP): A student who fainted and was rushed to the
hospital, after 14 days on a hunger strike to protest against
last month's hike in domestic fuel prices, vowed on Friday that
she would resume her action as soon as she recovered.
Physically weak and bedridden with an intravenous drip
attached to her left hand, Mona of National University said she
would return.
"I will rejoin the protest again once I am released from here,
I don't care if I become sick again," she told The Jakarta Post
in her ward at Sultan Agung Hospital in Central Jakarta.
Mona was among six original hunger strikers who launched their
action on June 29 at the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) office. They also demanded the release of three
colleagues who were arrested by the police during a violent
protest against fuel price hikes in Ciputat, south of Jakarta.
Mona was rushed by friends to the hospital after she fainted
on Thursday evening.
The group's spokesman, Mustar Bonaventura, said Mona first
complained of a throbbing headache, not long afterwards she was
shaking uncontrollably. She was already unconscious when friends
brought her to the hospital.
The prospect of the highly spirited Mona returning to action
soon looked slim however, as she admitted herself.
"The doctor said that if I don't eat anything, I will never
heal completely," she said. "So far, they have not been able to
administer medicine to me, because I have not eaten anything."
Mona was the fourth to be hospitalized, but other students
have since joined in the action. By Friday, nine student hunger
strikers were still camping out at the parking lot of the Komnas
HAM building on Jl. Latuharhari.
The latest recruits were three students from the Bandung
Institute of Law who joined on Wednesday.
Wahyu, Johny Erwin and Alingga Boyke Primawan said they had
participated as an act of solidarity and that many other students
from their campus were ready to join in to replace those who fall
ill.
The three earlier casualties -- Andi Meyer from the Indonesian
Christian University, Ade from the Indonesia Administration
Foundation (YAI) and Dedi Setiawan from the Jakarta State
Institute of Islamic Studies -- have all been released from
hospital. (06)