Students 'occupy' military office

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: More than 2,000 students from seven local universities rallied on Saturday and managed to enter and stage a sit-in at the headquarters of Wijayakusuma 071 military resort for about three hours.

The students -- including those from a nursing school -- gathered at the Jenderal Soedirman University campus to listen to speeches. Then, in a convoy of hundreds of motorcycles and vans, they drove toward the military resort office 10 kilometers away, creating traffic congestion along roads connecting Purwokerto and Semarang and Yogyakarta for two hours.

The students expressed anger and sadness over the deaths of their colleagues in clashes between student protesters and security personnel on Nov. 13 in Jakarta. They insisted that Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto and President B.J. Habibie resign, and that former president Soeharto be tried for power abuses.

Military chief Col. M. Noer Muis was not on hand to meet with the students, who left after three hours of protest.

Meanwhile, in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin, hundreds of students entered the second day of their occupation of the governor's office. They forced their way into the complex on Saturday demanding that action be taken against corruption and collusion.

They have so far failed to meet with Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah.

The students are protesting because the provincial prosecutor's office halted an investigation into six government officials suspected of embezzling Rp 21 billion from land and property taxes. (45/swe)