Violence taints protests near Soeharto residence
JAKARTA (JP): Violence marred protests against the controversial fuel price hike and former president Soeharto on Saturday.
One protest, held a few meters from the residence of Soeharto, degenerated into a clash when some 500 protesters tried to break through a cordon of police officers on Jl. Suwiryo in order to reach Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
Two protesters suffered serious injuries in the clash. Police identified the two as Edward, 24, a former student at Indonesian Christian University who resides on Jl. Melati in East Bekasi, and Aep Saifudin, 17, a high school graduate who is now a street singer.
"Both suffered serious head injuries and slight facial injuries," a source at the city police medical center said.
After releasing Pos Kota daily photographer Timyadi, who was mistaken for a protester, police officers ordered reporters out of the area.
Separately, Central Jakarta Police chief of operational control Maj. Ricky F. Wakanno said six police officers, five of them members of the elite Mobile Brigade, were wounded during the clash on Jl. Suwiryo.
He accused students from the City Forum (Forkot) of provoking the clash.
"They, especially those in the left-wing (Forkot), started to provoke my officers by throwing stones and other objects at about 5:15 p.m. They also came prepared with sticks spiked with nails," he said.
"We brought two protesters to Jakarta Police Headquarters for questioning," he added.
At about 3 p.m., some 150 students, mainly from the private YAI University, gathered at Teuku Umar fountain near Jl. Suwiryo, which leads to Jl. Cendana.
At one point, Ricky told his officers to put away their rattan sticks and told students the police would escort two of the protesters to Soeharto's residence to meet with the former president as guests. This offer was rejected by the students.
At about 4:30 p.m., some 400 members of Forkot arrived at the scene in 15 buses.
With some of the students carrying Molotov cocktails, the protesters marched toward the police officers and attempted to break through the cordon.
Police fired tear gas and the protesters immediately dispersed, scattering in different directions.
In a separate protest, hundreds of students and workers gathered in the House of Representatives compound on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta at around 11 a.m. to demand the fuel subsidy be maintained.
The government decided to delay the fuel price hike planned for April 1 for an unlimited period of time.
"The government must cancel its plan to revoke the subsidy," an activist, Dita Indah Sari, told the protesters. She also blamed the International Monetary Fund for forcing the Indonesian government to cancel the subsidy.
The protesters also demanded a 100-percent hike in minimum regional wages for low-ranking employees, soldiers and police officers.
Outside of Jakarta, protests were held in cities across the country on Saturday, mostly demanding the planned fuel and electricity hikes be canceled, not merely postponed.
In Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, thousands of students from several universities, including the Indonesian Muslim University and Hasanuddin University, and members of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) hit the streets, burning tires and waving posters carrying slogans such as "Total removal of fuel and electricity hikes" and "Delay of hike not enough".
In Lampung, some 200 protesters gathered at the Lampung branch of Radio Republik Indonesia on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Pahoman, Bandar Lampung. The protesters demanded the station allow them to go on the air with their objections to the electricity rate and fuel price hikes.
Similar protests were staged in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, where hundreds of locals and students from Nomensen University, North Sumatra Muhammadiyah University and the Student-People Action Front expressed their objections to the planned hike.
In Surabaya, about 200 students from the National Student Institute for Democracy set up tents in Governor Soerjo Park, where they demanded plans for the fuel and electricity hikes be canceled.
Protests also were held in Bandung, West Java, by students from the Bandung Student Front and National Democrat League, along with the All-Indonesian Workers Association and Anti- Fascist Front. According to rumors here, students will stage a mass protest on Monday and Tuesday to protest the planned hikes.
In Yogyakarta, students from the Indonesian Muslim Student Association gave speeches in front of Gadjah Mada University, urging President Abdurrahman Wahid not to bow to foreign interests in raising electricity rates and fuel prices. (ylt/06/nvn/25/27/39/44/nur/edt)