APSN Banner

Students, youths step up street protests

Source
Agence France Presse - September 17, 1998

Jakarta – Hundreds of protesting Indonesian students and youths tested security forces Thursday, stepping up street demonstrations despite warnings from the military.

Over 1,000 students from at least two private universities in West Jakarta marched down a busy street near their campus towards parliament some two kilometres southeast before their advance was blocked by a thick cordon of anti-riot police backed up by soldiers, witnesses said. The march, started by students from the Tarumanegara University and later joined by those from the nearby Trisakti University, was in protest against the government's inability to bring down soaring prices of essentials.

The students also questioned the government's sincerity in investigating the wealth of ex-president Suharto, and demanded a thorough investigation into past incidents of violence by security forces, including the fatal shooting of four Trisakti students during a peaceful demonstration in May.

The marching students maintained strict discipline, holding hands and forming a chain around themselves to prevent any outsiders seeking to incite violence from joining their ranks. They remained locked in a standoff for about one hour with the security cordon blocking their way. They sat on the three-lane avenue, blocking traffic, and held a free speech forum to air their grievances before they disbanded peacefully. No further incident was reported.

Another group of students and activists managed to rally at parliament to protest against regulations issued earlier this year that placed restrictions on public demonstrations. Some 100 people, from 18 student and pro-democracy organisations, picketed the main gate of parliament, shouting "fight, fight, fight," and waving posters against the ruling.

The house of representatives "has to firmly reject the validity of the government regulation number two of 1998," a statement issued by the group said. It also called on the government to ratify swiftly an international convention on civil and political rights. The disputed law was issued in July in the wake of mounting street protests and required protestors to report to the police on their numbers, their intentions and route and also placed several locations off limits for public protests, including the area near the presidential palace. The regulation, in the form of a government decree, was widely criticised when it was announced, but despite government assurances that it would be left to parliament to translate into law, nothing has been done so far. The protestors, who were prevented from entering parliament by a cordon of some 30 armed soldiers guarding the entrance gate, picketed the front of the complex for two hours before disbanding peacefully.

Some 200 other students from a banking college in South Jakarta attempted to march to the parliament to protest soaring prices, but had to turn back to their campus after a phalanx of anti-riot police blocked their way just 200 metres away.

Indonesian military chief Wiranto warned last week of stern action against protestors who were undermining a renewed sense of security that has slowly begun to return since the fall of former president Suharto in May, which followed the country's worst riots in three decades.

Wiranto pledged that the armed forces "will not hesitate to act sternly against demonstrators" who made the rest of the country "restless."

Country