Maryadi/BI & AH Detik, Pontianak – A student protest at the Malaysian Consulate in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, today, Thursday 31 August 2000, has ended with four students being beaten and arrested.

About twenty students, under the auspices of the West Kalimantan Indonesian Students Front and the Association of Youth and Students for Reform (Gaprema), staged a protest criticising the Malaysian government for shifting boundary poles separating Indonesia and Malaysia. They also condemned the statement by the Malaysian government that all illegal immigrants coming into Malaysia are Indonesian. The protest caused the Malaysian Consul General, Mohamad Nizam Ramli, to flee from his office.

They also criticised the Malaysian Government for allowing its citizens to log timber in Indonesian territory. "The Malaysian government should return all the natural resources they have taken illegally from the Indonesian people," said one of protestors, read from a list of demands. During the protest, three banners were hung on the gate of Malaysian consulate. The banners carried messages like "Malaysians rape Indonesian female laborers", "Border Shifting equals Aggression", "Clarify the Illegal Immigrant statement".

The protesters also demanded that the Malaysian government take a strong action against those who had raped or abused Indonesian laborers and workers. "The Malaysian government is clearly protecting its citizens who have committed these crimes," said Rahmat, one of the spokespeople for the protestors. The protest created considerable a commotion, and the inevitable traffic jam. A staff member from the consulate came out of the compound to give something to a local resident. However, one of the protestors shouted to the local resident not to accept the gift, as it may have been stolen from Indonesia.

Initially, only a few police were present at the area, with reinforcements arriving not long after the protest started. The protestors confronted the police, with the officers retaliating with boots and batons. Four students were arrested in the melee.

The student group had said that police overreacted, and tried to provoke protesters' emotions. The Pontianak Police Chief, Senior Superintendent Suprojo WS, rejected this accusation saying, "The protestors arrested because they resisted officers guarding the Malaysian Consulate."