A number of protesters and police officers, as well as two journalists, were reportedly injured as rallies against the proposed fuel price hike turned violent on Monday in the North Maluku towns of Ternate and Jambi.
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto on Monday said that five protesters and a photographer from Ternate-based newspaper Harian Mata Publik were hit by rubber bullets fired by police, while around 2,000 demonstrators were attempting to occupy Ternate's Baabullah Airport.
Indonesian news portal tempo.co reported that Roby Kelery, the photographer, would have to undergo surgery to lift a projectile from his left thigh.
"It started out peacefully, but then they began marching through routes and disrupting public activities," Agus told rmol.com. "The National Police were trying to block them. In the end, they headed to Baabullah Airport and attempted to occupy it."
He said protesters began using slingshots to hurl stones at police and injured seven officers. One officer was badly wounded and had to be admitted to an emergency unit of a Ternate hospital. Police retaliated by firing rubber bullets.
In Jambi, TransTV contributor Nugroho Anton was also reportedly badly wounded after what looked like a shattered piece of a tear gas canister stuck his forehead shortly after police released tear gas at protesters flocking to the Jambi Legislative Council office.
Nugroho underwent an hour of surgery, after which doctors handed down the canister piece to other journalists waiting for Nugroho at the hospital. "This will provide strong evidence that officers have released shots," said Nanang, one of the journalists.
Protests have been reported across a number of regions in Indonesia, as the House of Representatives is expected to make its decision regarding a price hike for subsidized fuel as part of the 2013 state budget revision on Monday.
Agus denied any use of live ammunition by police in securing the protests, saying that law enforcers obeyed standard operating procedures.
The House plenary session discussing the budget revision was adjourned for the second time on Monday afternoon, as only five out of nine factions of the House said they approved the government's draft revision.
The five factions are all members of the government's ruling coalition: the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
The sixth coalition member, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), rejected the draft, along with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).
House speaker Marzuki Alie said the adjournment was supposed to let parties lobby before the House made a final decision on the budget revision, bisnis.com reported.