TNI officers' children attack Medan students

TNI officers' children attack Medan students

Apriadi Gunawan and Nana Rukmana, Medan/Cirebon

At least eight students were injured after being attacked by
children of military and police personnel in Medan, North
Sumatra, witnesses and police confirmed on Friday.

The assault was launched on Thursday night after the victims
along with their colleagues staged a rally to oppose voting for
presidential candidates from military backgrounds.

The attackers from the Communication Forum for Children of
Retired Military/Police Officers (FKPPI) also destroyed a
makeshift post the students set up at the Heroes Cemetery Park on
Jl. Sisingamangaraja, Medan, two days ago.

Eye witnesses said the violence started at around 10 p.m.,
when FKPPI members arrived at the student post in cars and on
motorcycles.

The attackers had asked the students to disperse and to
dismantle their post, arguing that it was unethical for them to
be present at the cemetery for an antimilitary protest.

The request was then rejected by the students, sparking a
verbal and physical clash.

"At the time, we were only eight students at the post and we
could not do anything. So we fled after they (the attackers) beat
us and destroyed our post," recalled Okto Fitria, a victim.

Other victims injured in the incident were Suri Parwita, Izal
Kentong, Anwar Basri, Rizal Rozi, Mukhlis, and Ardansyah -- from
the Medan Institute of Technology, and Julia Taufik from the
North Sumatra Islamic University.

Okto said the victims later reported the incident to Medan
Teladan Police at around 12 p.m.

Medan Teladan Police chief of detectives First Insp. Ernesto
Seser confirmed the reported attack, saying the victims demanded
the arrest of the perpetrators.

The student victims were questioned on Friday by police
investigators to take their statements about the incident,
Ernesto said. But it was not clear why none of the attackers were
immediately arrested.

"The case file drafted from the investigation will be handed
over to Medan Police for further action," Ernesto told The
Jakarta Post.

Responding to the attack, North Sumatra's FKPPI chairman
Ardjoni Munir said he knew nothing about the incident, but
stressed that he supported the police's move to look into the
case.

He lamented the students protest against presidential
candidates from military backgrounds, and that it was held at a
sacred place like the cemetery.

The students should have been able to embrace ethics when
expressing their opinion during Thursday's protest, he argued.

"The students are prospective intellectuals. They should have
avoided demonstrating at the Heroes Cemetery Park. Is that
ethical? My father was buried there. So I'm offended," he said.

Ardjoni, however, regretted what his members did to the
protesters.

Street rallies have hit towns and cities across the country to
oppose the nomination of presidential/vice presidential
candidates with military background -- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
Wiranto and Agum Gumelar are all retired army generals.

Meanwhile, speaking in Cirebon, West Java, on Friday, Agum
said antimilitary demonstrations should be respected in a
democratic society.

"We are a democratic state. Democracy means accepting and
respecting differences of opinion. That some are opposed to
military candidates should be respected," he said.

Agum, who was nominated as the running mate of presidential
candidate Hamzah Haz, said such protests should not be considered
a negative campaign aimed at dampening the chances of
presidential hopefuls contesting the July 5 election.

Agum denied the notion that the nominations of the three
retired generals for the presidency showed that civilian
leadership had failed.

Nor were their bids for the top post a special phenomenon in
politics, he said.