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).