Students, police clash at Attorney General's Office

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)