Student Demonstration in Surabaya Ends Peacefully

Thousands of students from various universities in Surabaya, East Java, held a demonstration in the provincial capital on Tuesday (10 November).

The protesters, from Airlangga University (Unair), Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), other campuses and civil society groups, staged a large rally at the Air Mancur roundabout in Surabaya’s Alun-Alun.

CNNIndonesia.com observed that the joint group began by marching from Unair’s Campus B on Jalan Airlangga to the roundabout on Jalan Gubernur Suryo.

On arriving, the students and civil society participants gathered around the fountain, bringing traffic to a complete standstill on four roads: Jalan Gubernur Suryo, Jalan Pahlawan, Jalan Panglima Sudirman and Jalan Yus Sudarso.

The protesters displayed banners criticising the government, including slogans reading ‘free smoke, critical breathing’ and ‘forests are burning, people’s needs are affected — what is the government doing?’

Daniel Situmorang, Unair Student Executive Board’s social and political affairs minister and the rally’s field coordinator, said Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s resignation from the vice-presidency would be a starting point, not the end of efforts to defend democracy. He urged civil society and students not to become complacent about the political developments.

The demonstrators raised key issues concerning the environment, the economy and civilian supremacy. They highlighted forest and land fires, which have not been declared a national disaster.

‘We see the inability and incompetence of national leaders to uphold the commitments they made during the campaign and since taking office. There is no justice and no public welfare,’ he said.

They also cited continuing increases in the prices of basic necessities and called for all forms of intimidation against civil society to end, in order to uphold the rule of law.

‘We demand that forest and land fires be declared a national disaster. The government must stop treating the smoke affecting our brothers and sisters in Kalimantan, Papua, Sulawesi, Sumatra and elsewhere as a minor issue. Disaster response must be the state’s top priority now,’ he said.

‘Next, we demand that the prices of basic necessities come down. People’s kitchens must not continue to suffer because of rising food prices. Finally, we demand civilian supremacy. Restore civil rights and end all forms of intimidation and the dominance of power over the law,’ he added.

ITS Student Executive Board president Rakan Naufal Alief said the combined protesters felt that the series of problems caused by the government had reached a point at which the public had lost trust.

‘This is an expression of distrust: the current administration has created many problems, and many demands have gone unheard,’ Rakan said.

The rally was estimated to have drawn nearly 3,000 people. Protesters chose the Alun-Alun fountain roundabout because, they said, demonstrations at legislative buildings had not produced concrete results.

‘Today we have come together from various organisations and communities, with nearly 3,000 people. ITS alone has brought 1,500. The government should listen carefully to our demands and hear our aspirations,’ he said.

The protesters began blocking the Alun-Alun fountain junction at 3pm. The demonstration ended in an orderly and peaceful manner at 5.30pm. Traffic on Jalan Gubernur Suryo, Jalan Pahlawan, Jalan Panglima Sudirman and Jalan Yus Sudarso, which had been completely disrupted, gradually returned to normal.

Similar demonstrations on 10 November, with broadly comparable demands, were also held by students and civil society groups in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto and Makassar.

East Java Regional Police said they had arrested two people suspected of carrying a ready-to-use Molotov cocktail during the student and civil society demonstration at the Alun-Alun fountain monument on Tuesday.

The two suspects, identified by the initials MVK and VS, are Surabaya residents aged about 24. Officers from the East Java Police Preventive Strike Task Force arrested them on the western side of the Bambu Runcing Monument after becoming suspicious of their behaviour.

East Java Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abast said an initial examination at the scene found one ready-to-use object suspected to be a Molotov cocktail.

‘Officers found an object suspected to be a Molotov cocktail, containing a liquid believed to be Pertamax fuel, with a wick thought to have been made from a piece of trouser fabric belonging to one of the people detained,’ Jules said on Tuesday evening.

According to preliminary investigations, MVK and VS had carefully planned the act. They rode a motorbike to a friend’s house to assemble the device.

After assembling it, they left the motorbike at a friend’s home and walked along Jalan Embong Kenongo towards the rally site. They reportedly tried to flee when they saw officers approaching but were stopped.

Jules said their initial statements indicated that they had brought the Molotov cocktail to provoke unrest during the public demonstration.

‘The preliminary findings indicate that the motive was to cause disorder. Investigators will continue examining the case and verifying all statements against supporting evidence to determine whether anyone else may have been involved,’ he said.