Students stage more protests

JAKARTA (JP): A string of major student protests were held in a number of cities yesterday, but security was notably more lax than for previous days of demonstrations.

On the campus of Lampung University in Bandarlampung -- where students and riot police clashed and 60 students were arrested on Thursday -- 300 students continued with their demands for lower priced basic commodities, political reform and the replacement of controversial new cabinet ministers.

The rally passed peacefully amid light security, Ibrahim Bastari from the Lampung Legal Aid Foundation told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview yesterday.

Ibrahim said that seven students were continuing with a hunger strike, which they began Thursday, to draw attention to their demands for reform.

Students are enraged at the government's handling of the worst economic crisis to hit the country in decades. They also want democratic reforms and believe the newly established cabinet, which includes Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, is nepotistic.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar repudiated reports that several middle-ranking police officers had been taken hostage by students in exchange for their detained colleagues yesterday.

"There is no hostage situation. What really happened was that four officers went onto the campus to have a discussion with the students," he said.

Da'i claimed that some reporters misunderstood the situation.

"There were some students who yelled during the protest: 'Let's take these police hostage in exchange for our friends.' But that was only a bluff. They did not really do it," he said.

Students also held rallies in Surakarta, Central Java, and in Jakarta yesterday.

Some 9,000 students gathered at the Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, watched by 1,000 security officers outside the university grounds. The students came from Yogyakarta, Semarang, Salatiga and Sukoharjo.

At least two armored vehicles and dozens of military trucks were seen near the university.

Scuffles between the students and security personnel broke out during a demonstration on Tuesday and dozens of students required medical attention for bruising.

In Jakarta, 50 students staged a free speech forum at the Jakarta office of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Students on Jl. Cilosari, Central Jakarta.

They demanded that the People's Consultative Assembly convene a special session if the government fails to overcome the severe economic crisis within six months.

Student leaders also demanded dialog with the President, rather than with the military, as Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto recently offered.

Wiranto said he had instructed all levels of the military to be prepared to meet and talk with student groups.

"We want a dialog with the number one man," Irfan Gani from the University of Indonesia's School of Economics told assembled journalists.

Wiranto said the Armed Forces headquarters will begin to actively seek to help the government settle the monetary crisis yesterday.

"We will either visit university campuses to hold dialog with the students, or invite them to the Armed Forces headquarters for the same purpose," he told reporters after a ceremony to install Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi as the new Armed Forces Chief of General Affairs and Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the new Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs.

Wiranto said his office had already received numerous requests for dialog from students and other groups in society.

"However, we need time to make the necessary arrangements for the dialog," he said. "We have started dialog with students...but we now need to intensify it due to the crisis."

Addressing the ceremony, Wiranto called on the nation to remain patient in the face of hardship, and allow the government to work to settle the crisis.

"No one should distract the government from efforts to bring the nation through the monetary crisis," he said.

Susilo said that dialog could also be held in any regional military command or police office across the country.

Clashes between security forces and students have left dozens of students injured in Surabaya, Surakarta, Bandung and Lampung over the past weeks.

Security officials have warned they will not tolerate street rallies but will allow demonstrations within university grounds.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation denounced the military on Thursday for its use of force in breaking up some protests. It said security forces had violated campus autonomy and other human rights. (har/cst/imn/byg)