Students stage more rallies for sweeping reforms

JAKARTA (JP): Students in many cities kept up their pressure on the government yesterday for sweeping reforms, as some scuffled with security personnel during rallies protesting the effects of the economic crisis.

Dozens of people were injured in clashes in two cities in West Java and Central Java.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, about 2,000 students assembled at the state-run General Soedirman University and later tried to move their protest to the streets. They became locked in a skirmish with hundreds of security personnel, who attempted to block them from leaving campus through a university gate to the northern part of the city.

At least 21 students and four security personnel were injured, student representatives said. Two students sustained head injuries and were rushed to the hospital.

Col. Eddi Karnadi, the chief of the Banyumas police, refused to comment when asked about the number of people wounded in the incident.

In Bandung, West Java, a tussle ensued when thousands of students from the Bandung Institute of Technology tried to march off their campus to join another rally held by students from nearby Padjadjaran University. They were blocked by hundreds of riot police on Jl. Ganesha.

At least eight students were injured and two cars damaged in the incident, students said.

Two armored vehicles reportedly stood ready in the vicinity and a helicopter hovered over the demonstration site.

In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, some 5,000 students from several state and private universities assembled at the 17 Agustus University campus for a noisy but peaceful rally. Institutions represented included Airlangga University, the Surabaya Institute of Technology and the Adhi Tama Institute of Technology.

Students, in addition to demanding lower prices of basic commodities, declared they wanted a change in the national leadership.

"Reforms must be accompanied by succession," read one poster held up by the students.

"We want the People's Consultative Assembly to hold a special plenary session to withdraw (President) Soeharto's mandate," Edi Waluyo from Airlangga University said.

The 1000-strong People's Consultative Assembly returned Soeharto to his seventh consecutive five-year term last month.

Thousands of students from several universities in Surakarta, Central Java, and Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, also held rallies.

In Yogyakarta, noted writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma, through the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute, filed a lawsuit against the minister of defense and security/armed forces chief and the Yogyakarta police chief regarding serious injuries suffered by his son, Timur Angin, 19, during a protest at the Gadjah Mada University campus on April 3.

Seno alleged that two officers dragged and beat Timur, who he said was an onlooker at the demonstration.

In Jakarta, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Students (HMI) appealed to the government to let students convey their grievances directly to Soeharto.

Anas Urbaningrum made the request in a meeting with Vice President B.J. Habibie.

The President has urged students to concentrate on their studies, and government officials have told protesters to stop meddling in politics. The authorities have also said they will only tolerate student protests which remain on campuses.

Several protest rallies in recent weeks have descended into violent scuffles with security personnel, as the latter tried to prevent students from leaving their campuses.

Clashes between the students and security personnel and the disappearances of several students and political activists have led the National Commission on Human Rights to launch their own investigations. (45/23/30/nur/har/prb/byg)