Students continue sesion protests

Students continue sesion protests

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of students in several major cities
rallied on Tuesday to add pressures on the Special Session of the
People's Consultative Assembly to come up with pro-reform
decrees.

Students in the West Java capital of Bandung, East Java
capital of Surabaya, Yogyakarta, the Central Sulawesi capital of
Palu, and the hill town of Bogor outside Jakarta, shouted for the
Assembly legislators to end the Armed Forces role in politics,
and for the detention and prosecution of Soeharto and his
cronies. The students also demanded the lifting of a stipulation
that all organizations must adopt the state ideology Pancasila as
their sole guiding principle.

In Yogyakarta, thousands of activists of 33 youth
organizations made the local RRI radio station air their demands.
"Stop hurting people's feeling by repeatedly saying that the
Armed Forces are part of the people because in practice the
military always suppresses the people," the students said.

In Bogor, West Java, around 100 students gathered at the Bogor
Institute of Agriculture to air the same demands. "Abolish the
military dual role in security and politics ...prosecute
Soeharto, investigate the rights violations in Aceh, Irian Jaya,
Tanjung Priok, Lampung, East Timor and the murders in Banyuwangi,
East Java," the students said.

In Bandung, around 200 rallied in front of the legislature
building to demand trial for Soeharto and his cronies and
abolition of the Armed Forces' dual role.

Some activists said they would continue with their rallies in
the next three days as long as they failed to see the Special
Session heeding their demands.

In Surabaya, thousands of students gathered at various spots
in the city, causing massive traffic jams for four hours, to
deliver their demands.

At the Heroes Monument, around 1,000 students gathered to
listen to speeches that called on the legislators not to betray
the people's trust in them. Another group of 500 students
gathered in front of the Majapahit Hotel -- the historical site
where Indonesian fighters ripped down the flag of the Dutch
colonialists more than 50 years ago.

Around 1,000 students also rallied in front of the Grahadi
gubernatorial office. Coming from respected colleges such as
Airlangga University, State Institute of Islamic Studies, and
Petra University, some of the students staged what was locally
known as sumpah pocong.

Five students role-played as Moslem leaders Amien Rais and
Abdurrahman Wahid, opposition figure Megawati Soekarniputri, and
as President B.J. Habibie and Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto, and were wrapped in white shrouds. They then took an
oath never to betray the people.

In Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi, dozens of members of
the Indonesian Moslem Students Association marched down the Sam
Ratulangi thoroughfare, urging legislators not to disappoint the
people.

They then congregated and continued their protest sitting down
in front of the provincial legislature and the governor's office.
The rally was peaceful.

In Central Java capital of Semarang and in Purwokerto, similar
demonstrations took place.

In Semarang, those who opposed the special session and those
in support both rallied in front of the provincial legislative
council under tight security.

Hundreds of members of the Polytechnics Students Council
demonstrated in support for the special session. They demanded
the abolition of the military's political role, the holding of a
fair and honest general election next May and the People's
Consultative Assembly general session next December to adopt a
new State Policy Guidelines.

They also called on the public to keep their vigil over the
danger of communism, atheism, and liberalism cloaked with reform
movement.

The other group was the Indonesian Nationalist Students
Movement who rejected the special session, and demanded the
establishment of a presidium government consisting of community
leaders with integrity.

In Purwokerto, hundreds of students braved heavy rains and
marched down the city's thoroughfare to air their rejection of
the special session. (swa/har/23/nur/24/43/45)