Students mass in peaceful protest

DENPASAR, Bali: About 150 students staged a peaceful rally on Tuesday at the Bali legislative council building to protest what they called continuing state-sponsored violence against civil society.

Six student groups from Udayana University, Warmadewa University and the Denpasar College of Arts joined forces under the banner of the Bali Students' Alliance (AMB) in a protest that lasted for three hours.

The protest was triggered by an incident last week in which Denpasar Police officers attacked dozens of protesting students commemorating the 1998 fatal shooting of Trisakti University students in Jakarta.

"The attack is a blatant example of how the politics of power and the paradigm of violence still prevail within our state apparatus," said Wayan Gendo Suardana, the field coordinator of Tuesday's rally. --JP