Suwarna denies helping student demonstrators

JAKARTA (JP): Free meals became a sensitive issue on Wednesday as an angry governor denied he had a vested interest in feeding demonstrating students.

East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah issued a written statement denying he had masterminded student demonstrations in the provincial capital of Samarinda, saying he had provided the hungry protesters with meals "on a humanitarian basis."

The students demonstrated and camped in the provincial administrative office last week to demand transparency in the investigation of alleged corruption in an Rp 21 billion (US$2.6 million) property tax case.

The students decried the decision of provincial prosecutor Mansur Kartayasa to drop the corruption case for unclear reasons last month.

The scandal reportedly involves at least six senior officials and former governor A.M. Ardans, Suwarna's immediate predecessor.

Suwarna dismissed allegations that he had encouraged some students to stage a hunger strike to attract attention to their cause.

"About the meals, it was only a reflection of my caring attitude toward the students," Antara quoted Suwarna as saying.

Several youth organizations led by the chairman of the local branch of the National Committee of Indonesian Youths (KNPI) Zainal Arifin on Monday questioned Suwarna's decision to provide free meals to thousands of students from eight universities.

"It is likely that the demonstration received support from the governor because his officials provided meals to the students," Zainal said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile in Padang, West Sumatra, hundreds of members of the Islamic Students Association (HMI) took to the streets on Tuesday to press city officials to stamp out prostitution in the city.

"During the New Order regime no one had the guts to protest prostitution because it had military backing," the students said in a statement.

In Medan, North Sumatra, students from the private Sisingamangaraja XII University protested the alleged harassment and violent treatment they received from officials at the governor's office during a recent protest.

They claimed that officials beat them with sticks and called them idiots when they tried to enter the office on Tuesday. (28/21/prb)