Sulawesi students occupy airport, legislatures, gubernatorial hotel
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Around 300 students protesting the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) occupied the runway of Hasanuddin Airport here on Friday.
The students, who arrived on board five trucks, entered the airport through the cargo entrance and demanded the airport authorities issue them with tickets to Jakarta so that they could join students demonstrations there.
They also took the opportunity to condemn former president Soeharto and the Armed Forces' (ABRI) role in politics. The students arrived at 11 a.m. and stayed for about six hours before security personnel dispersed them using tear gas.
The gas knocked some students unconscious. Other students hurled stones at security officers while they retreated. The security forces were led by South Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Mudji Santoso.
Airport officials said they had to cancel 14 incoming and outgoing flights scheduled by Garuda, Merpati and Mandala while the students were occupying the runway. Some students even threatened to camp there overnight.
Meanwhile, in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, hundreds of students led by Marcos Simaremare failed to force the state-owned TVRI station to broadcast a statement they had issued. The station head told them it was not possible because the Special Session was being broadcast from Jakarta.
Marcos said the students wanted former president Soeharto be brought to trial.
Friday marked the students' second day in occupation of the provincial legislative council building. They denied they were holding legislators hostage and said they only wanted to use the council as a stage from which to make their point.
They said they also wanted to teach members of the Assembly from North Sumatra a valuable lesson, adding that they planned to intercept them when they arrived back from Jakarta at Polonia Airport on Saturday or Sunday.
Police officers put the number of demonstrators at over 1,000, down slightly from the number counted on Thursday.
The students held firm in their demand for the Armed Forces to be stripped of its political role and for Soeharto and his cronies to be brought to trial.
In Yogyakarta, around 500 students and local youths staged a rally to deliver the same demands as their contemporaries in many other cities. They also called on civilians to beware of what they believe to be a campaign organized by the military and remnants of Soeharto's New Order regime to divide and thereby rule the country's civilian population.
Meanwhile, Antara reported that clashes occurred between student protesters and security personnel in front of the RRI radio station in Malang, East Java.
Muhammadiyah Moslem Youth demanded access to the station's facilities to air their demands, but were prevented from entering the building by security personnel.
No serious injuries were reported.
In the East Java capital of Surabaya, apparently inspired by the actions of independence fighters in November 1945, dozens of students scaled the Mandarin Majapahit Hotel building.
They waved flags from the roof and later held a free speech forum to air their demands.
In Salatiga, Central Java, around 300 students from Satyawacana Christian University staged a protest on their campus. They denounced Soeharto, criticized ABRI and said that the Constitution guaranteed that any capable person, regardless of sex, ethnicity and religion, is eligible to become president of Indonesia.
In Bandung, the capital of West Java, hundreds of students rallied and unsuccessfully attempted to occupy the provincial legislative council. Undeterred, they sat in the middle of Jl. Diponegoro and held a free speech forum.
Later in the day, they marched through the city's main thoroughfares. No clashes were reported.
Separately, at the Bandung Institute of Technology campus, students prepared to set out for Jakarta after hearing reports that a student had been killed in a clash with security personnel in the nation's capital. (30/21/43/har/swa/nur)