Student protest mars Megawati's Bandung visit

Student protest mars Megawati's Bandung visit

Yulie Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Bandung Police detained on Monday seven student protesters for
allegedly violating measures taken by police to secure President
Megawati Soekarnoputri's official visit to Bandung on Monday.

The detained students were part of 500 demonstrators grouped
in several Muslim student groups, including the Indonesian Muslim
Students Action Front (KAMMI), the Bandung-based Indonesian Youth
Front (FIM-B), Indonesian Nationalist Student Movement (GMNI) and
the Islamic Students Association (HMI).

The students protested against Megawati's "noncritical" stance
toward significant issues, including the Israel-Palestine
conflict. They demanded that she take a firmer stance on Israel's
butchery of Palestinians and send peacekeeping troops to the
Middle East.

Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendra Sukmana said that the
seven students, including those from the University of Indonesian
Education (UPI), Padjajaran University and the State Academy of
Islamic Studies (IAIN), had been detained for protesting within
"the Ring I security area" in Bandung.

"They will only be detained for the night as a warning,"
Hendra told reporters on Monday.

The seven were identified as Budi Yusaminudin, Anwar Sugiyana,
Fatah Fahmi Fikri and Heru Srikabiyanto of UPI; Syarif Pirous of
Telkom technical school; Izma M Supriyadi of Padjajaran
University and Abdul Fatah Syamsidi of Sunan Gunung Djati State
Academy for Islamic Studies (IAIN).

The demonstrators had also demanded that the government
allocate a larger budget for the national educational system,
disband the former ruling Golkar Party, and put on trial human
rights violators, including high-ranking Indonesian Military
(TNI) officials.

A brief clash ensued between security personnel and the
demonstrators. The police hit the students with their batons, but
nobody was reported seriously injured or hurt in the clash.

During Monday's visit, Megawati inaugurated a new building for
the School of Mathematics and Physics at the UPI campus on Jl.
Setiabudi. Among the guests at the inauguration, built with a
grant worth 3.4 billion yen from the Japanese government, were
Japanese Embassy Charge d'Affaires Hideaki Domichi, and UPI
rector Fakry Gaffar.

In her speech, Megawati said that Indonesia's problems
involving the management of infrastructure included poor
planning, poor concern for ethics, rampant corruption and the
continuous misuse of funds.

"We always insist that other people comply with the law, but
we ourselves are reluctant to do it," Megawati said.

During her visit, Megawati was accompanied by her husband
Taufik Kiemas and Minister of National Education Malik Fadjar.