Yogya students' police scuffle

Yogya students' police scuffle

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Dozens of people were wounded in Yogyakarta as local police and
students scuffled on Friday during a protest to mark
International Women's Day.

A protester, Taji, was taken into police custody after being
beaten by several policemen at the scene of the clash. He was
accused by the police of initiating an attack on them.

However, Taji was released a few hours later after signing a
written statement in which he promised not to participate in more
demonstrations in the future.

"They threatened to arrest me again if they found me
protesting again," Taji told The Jakarta Post.

The injured included several women and one police
officer. Some sustained serious wounds after being attacked by
the police.

The clash began when some 200 protesters, grouped in the Poor
People's Defenders Front, along with those from the Circle for
Women's Studies, defied police instructions to disperse in order
to allow the city's traffic to return to normal.

"We had to force them to disperse because the demonstration
had caused a heavy traffic jam," First Insp. Maryadi, a local
police officer, said.

Protest coordinator Win Gideon, however, said the police had
insisted on ordering the demonstrators to disperse, even though
they had moved back to the sidewalk.

Dozens of policemen then chased the protesters and beat them
with rifles and wooden sticks they had grabbed from the students,
who tried to escape the attack by retreating toward the nearby
provincial legislative council building.

The initial demonstration was held in remembrance of
International Women's Day, which fell on March 8.

The students marched from the Gadjah Mada University campus to
the legislative council building located on Jl. Malioboro,
Yogyakarta, where they staged a free-speech gathering.

Some posters, carried by the protesters, read, "Dissolve
Dharma Wanita (a group of civil servants' wives)", "Dissolve PKK
(Family Welfare Movement)", "We are against subsidy cuts" and
"Give the people cheap education."

Despite being marred by the clash, the demonstration failed to
attract legislators, who were observed inside the council
building.

"They should not be asking for help from us," said a
legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan).