Students 'occupy' military office

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)