Students renew call for trial of Soeharto
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta
Students and other people marked the sixth anniversary of the fall of Soeharto by staging rallies in several cities on Friday, demanding that the reform movement be put back on track while insisting on the trial of the former president.
Several big cities, including Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Semarang in Central Java, Denpasar in Bali, Medan in North Sumatra and Palu in Central Sulawesi saw their students and people marching on the streets to commemorate Soeharto's resignation six years ago. His resignation followed riots in a number of cities after the shooting of students in Jakarta on May 12, 1998, which sparked protests and the end of the New Order regime.
The demands raised in 1998 marking Soeharto's fall included that all alleged violators of human rights and corruptors be brought to trial and the end of militarism.
The protests saw further expression of the rejection of militarism on Friday, following similar protests in the past few months ahead of the July 5 presidential election in which two candidates are retired generals -- former military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and former minister of social and political affairs, Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
It remained a question, however, how the demonstrations could again lead to a force as united as the 1998 student' protests that led to Soeharto's fall from power. Students have said their role has not been followed up in a meaningful manner by other civilian groups and those in the government. Analysts have pointed to even worse corruption but optimists have referred to the progress made such as the free elections.
In Jakarta, because of a strong police presence, at least 200 students from the May Alliance Movement were prevented from entering Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta. The march stopped at Jl. Teuku Umar, around 150 meters from his house.
During the rally, the students delivered speeches demanding that Soeharto be brought to court. At 6 p.m. the students left after burning a coffin symbolizing the death of democracy.
Hundreds of students also marched along the capital's main thoroughfares of Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Jend. Sudirman, and Jl. Jend. Gatot Soebroto.
Demonstrations involving the Indonesian Muslim Students Movement (PMII) demanded law enforcement, the protection of human rights, Soeharto's trial, and the elimination of corruption.
In Bandung, more than 1,000 people including farmers, students, and housewives staged rallies in front of Gedung Sate, the governor's office, to urge the government to try Soeharto and provide free education and health care for the poor.
The protesters of the Alliance of United People (ARB), also argued that the reform movement had not improved the lives of the common people. Even though hundreds of police personnel were guarding the rallies, no clash was reported.
In Denpasar, at least 50 protesters of the Antimilitarism and New Order Network were involved in clashes with dozens of uniformed members of The Forum of Sons and Daughters of Retired Military Personnel (FKPPI), injuring many of the protesters.
The protesters, many of whom were students, had brought with them several posters of Wiranto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. They demanded that both be held responsible for the East Timor mayhem in 1999 and military operations in Aceh. Around 35 members of FKPPI attacked the protesters, who fled the site.
However in Semarang, the Front for the Defense of the Poor (FPRM) rejected the other four president candidates -- Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien Rais, Abdurrahman Wahid and Hamzah Haz, saying that they failed to support the reform agenda let alone bring about any tangible improvements in people's lives.
In Palembang, hundreds of protesters also criticized military abuses and the failure of succeeding governments in improving conditions in the last six years.
The protesters also demanded that the government implement the demands of the reform agenda by bringing former President Soeharto and his cronies to trial, to end corruption, collusion and nepotism, and to curb foreign control of the economy.