Three more students join hunger strike

JAKARTA (JP): Three more students have joined a group of hunger strikers to protest against the hike in domestic fuel prices and to demand the release of a fellow student, replacing three others who have had to be rushed to hospital.

The strike, conducted at the parking lot of the National Commission on Human Rights, began on June 29 and initially involved six students.

The strike claimed its first casualty on Friday when one student was rushed to UKI Hospital. The second followed on Sunday and the third on Monday.

On Tuesday, three students picked up where their colleagues left off. They were Adri from the Jakarta School of Theology, Boger from the Institute of Social and Political Studies (IISIP) and Dede from August 17 University in Cirebon.

Bolong from the Jakarta State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) joined in on Sunday.

They joined Mona of the National University in Jakarta, Buyung of the Alliance for the Revolutionary Students and Youth, Rey from the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) of Jakarta, who were all part of the first group of hunger strikers.

The students looked weak and exhausted as they lay inside their tent. They have only consumed water and tea provided by other students.

"We will stay here until the government revokes the fuel price hike and release Mixil," Dede said.

Mixil Mina Munir, an activist from City Forum university student organization, was detained by police on June 29 on charges of inciting unrest during a violent protest against fuel price hikes, averaging 30 percent, in the Ciputat district, south of Jakarta. (06)