Jakarta – Thousands of students across the country hit the streets on Tuesday to condemn a brutal police attack against university students over the weekend in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.
Sixty-five students of the Muslim University of Indonesia (UMI) were injured in Saturday's attack. Police entered the university campus after the students took a traffic policeman hostage in the campus and beat another officer in the street during two separate rallies.
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar fired three top police officers following the incident on Saturday. They were Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Jose Rizal Effendi, East Makassar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Suprianto and Panakukang Police chief Adj. Comr. Namora Simanjuntak. On Monday Da'i also fired Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani, chief of South Sulawesi Provincial Police.
In Makassar, thousands of students from several universities in the city staged street rallies. The students visited several places during the rallies, including UMI, Karebosi park, the East Makassar Police precinct and the official residence of the South Sulawesi Police chief.
A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Achmad Ali, said that he would bring up the case to the commission plenary meeting to decide if an investigating team was required.
"I come here to collect information and I would suggest that the plenary meeting set up a fact-finding team for the case," he said after visiting the UMI campus where blood stains were still visible.
UMI Rector Nasis Hamzah said that the university had identified the student who allegedly took the policeman hostage.
If found guilty, the student would possibly be expelled from the university, he said.
South Sulawesi Governor Amin Syam was quoted by Antara as saying that the police who attacked the students "were out of control".
Despite the protests, security in Makassar remained under control, South Sulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Andi Nurman Thahir said.
He admitted that the students outnumbered police personnel deployed to prevent any possible incident during Saturday's rally.
"We don't want more clashes between students and the police," he said.
In the Central Sulawesi town of Palu, some 3,000 students staged a rally outside the Central Sulawesi Police station to protest the attack.
Later, they threw rocks at the station and nearby legislative council after the police refused to meet them. But, the police on duty were not provoked.
Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha said he had instructed his subordinates to remain calm despite a possible backlash from the students.
Students in the Southeast Sulawesi capital of Kendari showed their solidarity for their fellow students in Makassar by demonstrating in the city.
A clash almost broke out between the hundreds of students who joined the rally and several people the students took for policemen. The students threw rocks at policemen who were on duty.
In the West Java city of Bandung, hundreds of students from 22 youth organizations grouped under the Antimilitarism Solidarity, blockaded several roads on Tuesday morning, creating a heavy traffic jam in the northern part of the city.
They gave speeches, burned tires and military uniforms. The protests ended peacefully.
In Jakarta, a number of groups of students visited to the National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta to condemn the attack and demanded that the National Police chief step down. Some of them later held a protest at Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
In Semarang and Yogyakarta hundreds of students held similar rallies, condemning the attack and demanding that Da'i step down.
In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, hundreds of students held street rallies while urging Komnas HAM to investigate the case.