Students remember Trisakti tragedy

More than 500 Trisakti University students staged protest rallies on Tuesday in front of Merdeka Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, and the Attorney General's Office on Jl. Hasanuddin, South Jakarta.

The students gathered in front of the palace at around 2 p.m. and left bunches of flowers (photo above).

Later they headed to the Attorney General's Office, traveling on motorcycles, cars and 10 buses.

The students staged the rally in a bid to call for the government to investigate the Trisakti tragedy in May 1998, when four of the university's students were shot dead.

The tragedy sparked rioting across Jakarta and forced former president Soeharto to quit.

Other tragedies, such as the Semanggi I and Semanggi II incidents were also deemed as violations of human rights.

The students also threatened to take the unresolved cases to the International Court of Justice should the government fail to resolve them in June.

A fracas occurred when the students, forced to go to the rear entrance of the Attorney General's Office on Jl. Bulungan, hit security chief Subagyo, who had tried to prevent them from entering.

The rally caused severe traffic congestion and two students also damaged a passing red sedan, but no fatalities were reported. -- JP