Students stage protest at Russian embassy
Students stage protest at Russian embassy
JAKARTA (JP): Around 80 Moslem students staged a noisy protest outside the Russian embassy yesterday, condemning Moscow's policy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and its military actions in Chechnya.
Some two dozen members of the Indonesian Solidarity Committee of Youth and Students for Bosnia and Chechnya displayed posters calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and lashing out at Moscow's pro-Serb policy in Bosnia.
"Long Live Chechnya. Long Live Bosnia. Long Live Human Rights!" the students shouted, as they unfurled banners and chanted Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).
They were later joined by some 40 members of the Student Committee on Human Rights from the University of Indonesia (UI). The students wore yellow jackets and carried anti-Russian posters, some even written in Russian by UI students of Russian literature.
"First Bosnia. Now Chechnya. What's next for Russia?" one of the posters read. Other posters read "Yeltsin: Violator of human rights" and "Find a peaceful solution to Chechnya".
Six representatives from the two organizations were received in separate groups by embassy representatives, Boris Budanov and Vladimir Pronim, who promised to forward their statements to Moscow.
Dozens of policemen sympathetically guarded the students from spilling onto the busy Jl. Thamrin thoroughfare, repeatedly reminding the students about the traffic.
The solidarity committee, gathering students from several universities here and in nearby Bogor, urged Moscow "to stop the mass killing and uncivilized actions" in Bosnia.
"We condemn the Russian government's intervention in Chechnya and urge the Russian army to withdraw from Chechnya," they said in a statement.
The UI students, in a petition handed over to the embassy, condemned the Russian invasion of Chechnya and demanded the withdrawal of Moscow's troops.
"Russia should leave the UN Security Council because of its inability to maintain and safeguard world peace, including in its own area," the statement said.
Finally, the UI students said they rejected statements made by a Russian government official who likened Moscow's actions in Chechnya with the integration of East Timor to Indonesia in 1976.
"Chechnya is not East Timor!" a poster read. "Serbs and Russia: Twin brothers!", another read.
Both groups called on the Indonesian government, as current chairman of the 111-countries Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as well as a member of the 51-strong Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), to take a stronger stance on the issue.
They also called on Indonesia and other Moslem countries to recognize Chechnya and help the region achieve full sovereignty.
Indonesia is the world's largest Moslem-populated country with close to 90 percent of its 194 million people as adherents of Islam.
Some of the students were organized by an organization of ulemas, the Committee for World Moslem Solidarity (KISDI), which in the past has mobilized thousands of students for various Moslem causes. (swe)