Students continue protests in a show of solidarity
Students continue protests in a show of solidarity
JAKARTA (JP): University students in three cities continued
with their massive show of solidarity for fellow students who
died in recent rioting in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.
Even as the 1,000 students held their simultaneous
demonstrations, however, the Ujungpandang students have resumed
school. "Everything's back to normal here," a resident said
yesterday.
A student in Ujungpandang, however, told The Jakarta Post that
they were waiting for the regional military command to finish
investigating the April 22 student rioting and the ensuing
clashes with security officers which led to the death of three
students.
"If we're not satisfied with the results, we'll probably hit
the streets again," the student said.
There are two teams investigating the rioting which originated
from students' protest over local bus fare increases. The first
team was the National Commission on Human Rights, led by
Secretary-General Baharuddin Lopa, while the second was the
military team.
The rights commission announced on Wednesday that they found
there were rights abuses in the incident. The military team is
still investigation, but has admitted recently that some of the
Armed Forces (ABRI) members sent to contain the students'
protests made "mistakes". Chief of Staff of the Wirabuana
military command Brig. Gen. Fachrul Razi has even called the
mistakes "cruelty".
Both the government and the Armed Forces have appealed to all
parties, including the students who haven't stopped
demonstrating, to refrain from engaging in any activities that
could disturb peace and order.
On the campus of University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java,
some 500 students clad in yellow jackets yesterday held a rally
to protest the military's use of force in handling the campus
demonstrations.
The students plastered the college's Makara (fountain of
knowledge) monument with posters and placards. They unfurled
banners which read, among other things, "a campus is not a
battleground, general."
The students marched across their campus and went out to
surrounding areas. Some said they planned to hold similar rallies
at the House of Representatives and the Armed Forces headquarters
in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.
In the Central Java city of Salatiga and in Yogyakarta,
hundreds of students also held demonstrations of solidarity for
the three dead students.
More than 100 students of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta
gathered at the campus, but could not leave the compound as
hundreds of riot police blocked their way.
"I sympathize with your cause, but please don't march outside
of the campus," chief of Sleman's police resort Lt. Col. Antana
pleaded with the students. "Don't try to make me let you leave
the campus."
The police chief told the students that if they forced their
way out of the campus, he would disperse them by force as well.
In Salatiga, dozens of students marched from Satya Wacana
Christian University to City Council. They were received by the
Council's head of the Armed Forces faction, Siswanto.
(har/06/20/31/swe)