Three Students Arrested During Protest at DIY Regional Police Headquarters Released

Three Students Arrested During Protest at the DIY Regional Police Headquarters Released

Police detained three students who participated in a protest in front of the Yogyakarta Special Region Police Headquarters (Mapolda DIY), Sleman, on Tuesday (24 February) evening. Earlier, a crowd of hundreds of people held a protest in front of the Mapolda DIY starting on Tuesday at around 6:00 PM. The protest became chaotic, and the crowd dispersed at around 8:20 PM. The dispersal of the protest was partly due to the arrival of another group of people who forced the first group to leave the area around the Polda DIY. The Head of Public Relations of the DIY Regional Police, Commissioner Pol Ihsan, stated that the three students who were briefly detained had been handed back to the university authorities at 10:30 PM. “We have handed them over to the university authorities, whom we had contacted earlier, and coordinated to pick up the students. Currently, they have returned home or left the Mapolda,” said Ihsan in a statement on Tuesday (25 February) early morning. Regarding the course of the protest, Ihsan regretted that the demonstration ended in chaos and involved damage to facilities, specifically the eastern fence of the Mapolda DIY. “However, in general, the situation was controlled by officers on the ground,” he explained. He also affirmed that information circulating about the use of tear gas or warning shots was untrue. “We would like to emphasise that during the security operation, officers were not equipped with weapons. The sound heard at the location came from firecrackers brought by the protesters,” Ihsan stated. The police also expressed appreciation to the public, including members of the Jaga Warga (Community Watch), who collaborated with the authorities to maintain public security and order (kamtibmas). Ihsan also conveyed his condolences for the incident in Tual, Maluku, which was the background for the protest. “We, from the DIY Regional Police, express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims related to the incident that occurred in Tual, Maluku. May the deceased be accepted for their good deeds, and may the families left behind be given strength and resilience,” he said. (kum/dal) [Image: CNN Video]