Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta, Semarang, Kupang – More than 100 people were arrested Saturday during protests at National University (Unas) in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

Hundreds of Unas students and alumni had gathered to protest the government's fuel price rises.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman confirmed the arrests. "We have arrested a total of 140 people," he said in a press conference at the South Jakarta Police headquarters Saturday.

The police said they had made the arrests because the protesters had resorted to violence.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said the police had received complaints from residents because the protest lasted until dawn prayers.

The police took action after students began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at around 5 a.m.

Rosiana, a former student of Unas' school of social and political studies, said the gathering inside the campus had started with about 20 students and alumni at 9 p.m. on Friday. The other students joined them after that.

"We then burned tires and blocked the road (Jl. Sawo Manila in Pejaten) to signify our protest," Rosiana said. "There was a lot of chaos between 11 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. when more than 200 protesters continued to demonstrate."

She said hundreds of police officers entered the campus after throwing back the bottles and stones thrown by the protesters from inside. The police also beat protesters until they bled, including women and those who had already surrendered, before arresting more than 150 people, she said.

She said her team, along with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, planned to provide legal defense for those arrested. Her team will also gather support from a 12-university alliance for subsequent protests.

In Semarang, dozens of University of Diponegoro students rallied Saturday against the fuel price increase.

In Kupang, hundreds of minivan drivers who cover the route between Kupang and Noelbaki held a strike Saturday morning. The strike meant some passengers had to walk about 12 kilometers to reach the bus terminal outside town to take alternative public transport.

Public transport on other routes continued to operate Saturday, but fares were increased arbitrarily. (ind)

[Suherdjoko contributed from Semarang and Yemris Fointuna from Kupang.]