Students stage more rallies for sweeping reforms

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)