Student rallies mark Youth Pledge Day

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)