Students, police clash at Attorney General's Office

JAKARTA (JP): Thirteen people were injured when students and police clashed outside the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta on Wednesday in the first violent protest in the capital this year.

Nine students, who were taking part in a demonstration demanding the government prosecute corruptors and human rights abusers, suffered wounds to the head and body after they were beaten by police with batons.

A reporter for Jakarta News FM, who was covering the incident live, was also badly beaten when police mistook him for a demonstrator.

The other three victims were police officers, including two who suffered head injuries after they were hit by rocks, witnesses said.

The protesters were members of the Students Action Front for Reform and Democracy (Famred) grouping students from Jakarta universities formed in the early days of the reformasi movement in 1998.

They were joined by the Trisakti Students Action Front of Trisakti University, also a hotbed of student activism.

One estimate put the number of protesters at around 70.

When their demand to meet with Attorney General Marzuki Darusman was turned down, the students broke down the gate of the office.

Two layers of the office's security guards and the South Jakarta Police's Mobile Brigade ensured that the protesters remained outside.

The students then decided to hold orations, criticizing the government for its slow handling of investigations into cases of corruption allegedly involving former president Soeharto and what they called "crimes against humanity" reportedly committed by former military chiefs Gen. Wiranto and Gen. (ret.) Feisal Tanjung.

Scuffles broke out when the barricades of police officers were rained on by rocks thrown by the crowd. The officers then charged the students, using rattan batons.

Five warning shots were also heard.

The three officers injured were identified from their badges as Maj. Bail Nur, Second Lt. B. Gunawan and non-commissioned officer Maryadi. It was not immediately clear where they were taken for medical treatment.

Two police operational cars were also damaged.

The injured students and reporter were temporarily treated inside the Attorney General's Office. But five of them were later apprehended by the police.

The chief of intelligence of the Jakarta Police, Col. Iman Haryatna, identified the five as Rizal from the Indonesian Institute of Social and Political Sciences, Ade Purnama of the Indonesian Institute of Technology, Dwinanto of Moestopo University, Benny Rizal of Gunadharma University and Sigit Cahya Rinaldi of Satyanegara University.

All five were being held at the Jakarta Police for questioning on Wednesday night.

The police's handling of the incidence, particularly the beatings, which were shown on TV news, quickly drew strong condemnations from the Foundation of Legal Supremacy (Yakhum) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).

Yakhum urged the National Police chief to punish the officers, while PBHI said the police action was an infringement of the students' freedom of speech rights.

South Jakarta Police chief Col. Nono Supriyono said he deeply regretted the incident, but laid the blame squarely on the protesters. (01/ylt)