Student rallies mark Youth Pledge Day
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of students from a number of universities and student organizations marked the 72nd Youth Pledge Day on Saturday by staging rallies across the capital.
Some of them demanded President Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur, step down immediately for his failure to make significant changes in the country, while others demanded former president Soeharto be put on trial for alleged human rights abuses and corruption.
No clashes marred the protests, most of which took place near Gus Dur's office and Soeharto's residence in Central Jakarta and lasted until late in the evening.
The police, who have repeatedly vowed to take stern action against violent protesters, deployed a large number of personnel to watch the demonstrators, who eventually dispersed peacefully.
The day began with dozens of students from the University of Indonesia rallying in front of the presidential palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, demanding the President resign.
"Gus Dur must resign since we have seen no improvements during the first year of his presidency, particularly in law enforcement," one of the student orators said.
The students dispersed after about one and a half hours.
Another group of students from the same university staged a free-speech rally at their Salemba campus, also in Central Jakarta.
Hundreds of students from several student organizations, including the City Forum (Forkot) and the Student Action Front for Reform and Democracy (Famred), joined the gathering, where most of the speeches denounced Soeharto.
During the rally, the students gave speeches demanding the former president be put on trial regardless of his health.
"Don't talk about the supremacy of the law if Soeharto is still a free man," one of the orators shouted to the crowd.
Artist-turned-politician Eros Djarot and a political observer from the National Institute of Sciences, Hermawan Sulistyo, also took part in the event.
Eros said reform would not work as long as figures from the New Order were still in the government and political parties.
"All of the New Order's accomplices should be put on trial according to the law," said Eros, whose tabloid Detik was once banned during Soeharto's rule.
The free-speech forum at the campus ran into some initial opposition from students from the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry and the School of Nursing.
The students, through their senates, said the organizers failed to coordinate the event with them.
However, the three schools backed off from their opposition for unstated reasons.
The students later marched to Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta to stage a protest.
Separately in Yogyakarta, some 300 students from several agricultural colleges staged a rally at the Gajah Mada University traffic circle. The students demanded the government protect farmers from criminal actions, including the seizure of their land. (07/44/23/jaw)