Students protest bus fare hike

Students protest bus fare hike

JAKARTA (JP): More than 300 students from various universities
around Java held a demonstration yesterday at and around the
Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center in Central Jakarta, asking the
government to revoke the ministerial decree that recently raised
public transportation fares.

The demonstration started at 3 p.m. and disrupted traffic on
Jl. Cikini Raya for nearly three hours. The students read poems,
made speeches and prayed for the students who died in a similar
demonstration in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, on April 22 and 23.

The students demanded that Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal
Tanjung, Commander of the Wirabuana military command Maj.Gen
Sulati, South Sulawesi Governor H.Z.B. Palaguna and Ujungpandang
mayor Malik B. Masriy be held responsible for the deaths in
Ujungpandang.

The students also urged the House of Representatives to set up
a fact-finding team to investigate the incident.

Dozens of riot police with rattan sticks tried yesterday to
disperse the students, injuring more than ten protesters,
including Muchlis Nirwana, a law student at Pancasila University,
Aickel, a student at the National Islamic Institute, Syarif
Hidayatullah and Tuti Anis, both members of the Pijar Foundation,
an information and action network. Tuti was taken to the Baruna
medical clinic for her broken leg.

Another ten students were reportedly detained by local police
as they were marching to the Legal Aid Institute on Jl.
Diponegoro with a number of other students. (04)