Tension rises in student demonstrations
JAKARTA (JP): Police in Lampung fired warning shots and tear- gas at about 3,000 stone-throwing students who staged a demonstration demanding sweeping reform and lower prices of basic commodities yesterday, a student leader said.
Mahendra Utama, a law student at the state-run Lampung University in the provincial capital of Bandarlampung, some 350 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, said 60 protesters were arrested in a scuffle after hundreds of riot police entered the campus.
At least two warning shots were fired and three volleys of tear gas were released, Mahendra told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview yesterday.
Lampung Police Chief Col. Gendro Budi Santoso confirmed that a protest had taken place on the campus.
He also confirmed that 60 arrests were made, but declined to say how many students the police estimate to have been involved in the protest.
"They are only detained for identification," Gendro told the Post.
In the East Java capital of Surabaya, some 500 students of the Airlangga University staged a demonstration demanding reform and a review of the new cabinet.
Security personnel closed off the main street in front of the campus and several armored vehicles were maneuvered into place.
Also in Surabaya, some 50 students attempted to march from the Surabaya office of the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement to the local legislature. Police blocked their way and the students dispersed.
In East Jakarta, some 300 students from the private Jayabaya University demonstrated against remarks made by Minister of Education and Culture Wiranto Arismunandar. He recently described students who dabbled in politics as "amateurs."
Around 200 other students watched the protest. There was tight security in front of the campus.
In South Jakarta, around 400 students from the National Institute of Science and Technology held a rally demanding lower prices and political reform.
The students marched out of the university but police blocked their advance onto a nearby main road. There was no incidents.
Similar protests were staged yesterday by students of the Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, Central Java, and the Udayana University on the outskirts of Denpasar, Bali.
University students have stepped up the pressure on the government for reform and immediate action to solve the economic woes.
Clashes with security forces in West, Central and East Java earlier this week left dozens of students injured.
Separately, Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin warned the students of "infiltration" by certain parties. He named the outlawed Democratic People's Party as among possible agent provocateurs.
He said a police raid on an East Jakarta apartment last week found a document which suggested the party had been devising ways of drawing students off campus sites.
The Armed Forces have so far tolerated rallies on campus sites but promised to take stern action against those trying to take their protests onto the streets.
Meanwhile, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), Megawati Soekarnoputri, said yesterday that the government should engage in dialog with critics, including students, in response to calls for reform and clean governance.
She appealed to the military not to repress the student protests.
"The students should be given access and opportunity to express their opinions," she said. "They should be invited to discussions. They shouldn't be arrested or beaten for expressing their concerns about the current political and economic situation." (nur/09/28/har/imn/byg)