Troop behaviour condemned

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute has condemned the violent actions of Armed Forces (ABRI) members against the Trisakti University students during their street rally on Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Defense and Security in Central Jakarta.

The institute's director, Apong Herlina, said a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday he wanted ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto, who is also Minister of Defense and Security, to bring the riot troops to court for assaulting the protesting students.

The institute also wanted Wiranto "to ask for forgiveness from the (injured) students and their relatives and pay compensation to the victims," he said.

During Wednesday's noisy rally, with demonstrators demanding that ABRI immediately reveal the instigators of a recent series of fatal shootings here, riot troops attacked students with rattan sticks, leaving at least nine of the 300 participating Trisakti students injured.

Virginia S.S. of the university's information center said on Thursday three of the injured students were still in serious conditions at Pertamina Hospital in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

"The riot officers violated the universal human right to free speech by severely and brutally attacking us," she said.

The three students still receiving medical treatment, she said, were Didi Nurachman, Rizqi Dwi Nanda, and Andra.

"Most of them have severe head injuries," Virginia said.

Apong said his institute also strongly urged ABRI to immediately end its culture of violence and discriminative treatment of student protesters.

"We support the Trisakti students, who demand that Wiranto further probe the (May 1998) shooting of Trisakti students and bring the real killers to court," Apong said. (bsr)