Students back on streets, march to House halted
Students back on streets, march to House halted
JAKARTA (JP): Fifty-five students were arrested on Tuesday
while marching toward the House of Representatives in Central
Jakarta in a demonstration against the government.
The 55 arrested students, including eight females and three
high school students, were part of a group of about 100
demonstrators grouped in the Student Action Front for Reform and
Democracy (Famred).
They were arrested by 200 security officers from the Satgas
Yustisia task force at the Semanggi cloverleaf, reportedly for
had not informing the authorities of the rally plans and refusing
to disperse within 30 minutes of being warned.
The security forces moved in as heavy rain started to fall.
The students were taken away in two military trucks to city
police headquarters for questioning, while the other students ran
into the nearby Atma Jaya University campus compound.
No serious injuries were reported, but some security personnel
were seen beating students.
"We'll record their identities and detain them in the name of
justice," chief of the city police's alert unit Col. Arthur
Damanik told reporters.
Arthur, who is also commander of the task force, said the
students had apparently ignored the newly issued Law No. 9/1998
on freedom of expression.
"We can detain them for one day or if necessary 20 days
because they have proven to have committed crimes," Arthur added.
Along with the arrest, police also confiscated a large banner,
two megaphones and two red flags bearing the student group's
symbol.
The students were still being detained by police as of 9 p.m.
last night.
The chief of the city police's detective unit, Col. Alex
Bambang R., said the 55 students would be tried for violating
Article 510 of the Criminal Code concerning public rallies.
If convicted, they would be fined Rp 2,250 or jailed for a
maximum of two weeks.
The demonstrators started their rally from the Atma Jaya
University campus, blocking off one lane of Jl. Sudirman under
the supervision of about 100 security members armed with batons
and shields.
The students later marched some 300 meters from the campus
compound before being blocked by another security cordon stopping
them from entering Jl. Gatot Subroto, where the House is located.
During the rally, they demanded that the government under
President B.J. Habibie give details on the foreign loans to
Indonesia, expressing fears that the funds might be diverted to
benefit the election campaigns of certain parties linked with
authorities.
They urged reform supporters to end Habibie's government, said
to have retained links with former president Soeharto and his
family.
"The failure of Habibie's government to bring Soeharto and his
family to trial and to remove all the Armed Forces seats from the
House of Representatives, coupled with a series of riots incited
by agitators, such as that in Ambon, show that the ideology of
violence popular under Soeharto's government is still being
implemented and should be purged with the reform spirit," they
said in a statement.
The students also demanded an investigation into the shooting
incident on Nov. 13, last year, when 16 died after security
forces opened fire near the campus compound to end an anti-
government protest. (ivy/emf)