Student clash with police near Cendana

JAKARTA (JP): Angered at being repeatedly blocked by tight security, about 800 anti-Soeharto protesters attacked police with rocks and Molotov cocktails on Thursday, burning a traffic police post near the Central Jakarta residence of the former president.

The attack by members of Jarkot (City Network) sparked retaliatory measures by about 200 officers, who ran after the protesters and fired several rounds of tear gas.

Several students were badly beaten and enraged officers also attempted to grab the cameras of photographers from The Jakarta Post and Pos Kota daily, roughly confiscating their film.

The clash started shortly after 5 p.m. near the Soeharto compound on Jl. Cendana and lasted until late in the evening. Most of the streets in the area, such as Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Sutan Syahrir, Jl. Mochammad Yamin, Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Suwiryo, were closed to passing vehicles for hours.

Police sources said none of their colleagues were wounded during the clash. Medical staff at nearby St. Carolus Hospital said they treated at least 13 protesters.

They said most of the students suffered bruises to the face and body.

At about 7:30 p.m., students badly beat military police First Pvt. La Ode, who was in his uniform riding a motorcycle to find students hiding in the area.

Half an hour later, students attacked a passing military sedan driven by a woman with a child passenger on Jl. Diponegoro. Other students intervened to stop the action.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis told the Post later in the evening that police arrested 11 protesters during the attack.

"They're still under questioning, so we have no idea yet whether they will be released tonight or not," Zainuri said.

Members of Jarkot and many other student organizations have repeatedly thronged the streets near Jl. Cendana in recent weeks in stepped up protests against the aging former leader.

They have vented their anger at President Abdurrahman Wahid's administration for failing to try Soeharto, his family and associates for alleged corruption.

They also accuse Soeharto of committing human rights abuses during his 32-year rule.

During the rallies, protesters have been thwarted in their efforts to reach Soeharto's house due to the presence of a tight security cordon of Jakarta Police officers deployed around Jl. Suwiryo, some 200 meters from Soeharto's house.

The most recent clash at the site took place last Saturday.

Jarkot members arrived at the street at 4 p.m. on Thursday and started to yell their demands about Soeharto and his associates.

Several street singers joined the emotionally charged demonstration.

At 5:05 p.m., the protesters suddenly began lobbing dozens of Molotov cocktails at the police before running in different directions on Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Sutan Syahrir.

About 10 minutes later, some of the students returned to begin another attack.

Central Jakarta Police Operation Control Commander Maj. Ricky Wakanno said Jarkot's leaders, Acil and Andy, earlier promised him there would be no unrest in the area.

Lt. Col. Said Aqil of the National Police VIP Guard service, which is in charge of security in the area, said the students refused to meet his offer to appoint 10 representatives to visit Soeharto's house for a discussion.

After being chased by the police, the students showered a traffic police post in the Megaria area with two Molotov cocktails at about 6:15 p.m.

They then entered the post together with other residents and started vandalizing the structure and its signboards.

The police ran again after the students, who sought refuge near the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), both located on Jl. Diponegoro.

LBH staff member Roberto P. Sidauruk said police officers stoned the office, shattering several windows. Witnesses said the officers also broke the windows of the nearby Indonesian Institute of Accounting with stones and sticks.

The police fired several more rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowd, while the protesters erected barricades made of trash cans and flower pots.

Separately, a spokesman at the National Police Headquarters, Col. Saleh Saaf, deplored the action of officers who confiscated photographers' cameras and film.

"There's no instruction to use such a nasty attitude. We'll investigate the case," Saleh told the Post.

"On behalf of the police force, I'd like to apologize for the rough behavior of our low-ranking officers." (06/asa/nvn/bsr)