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Anti-Suharto protest turns violent in Jakarta |
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May 13, 2000
JAKARTA, MAY 12 (AP) - Police fired tear gas Friday night at hundreds of student protesters who had gathered outside former President Suharto's home, demanding that he be put on trial for corruption. |
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More than 100 police officers with shields had held the protesters about 300 meters (990 feet) away from the house for hours when they suddenly fired tear gas canisters and charged the demonstrators.
The students responded by throwing rocks, glass bottles and Molotov cocktails. The police then chased them down side streets, firing round after round of tear gas at the demonstrators.
At least one journalist was injured when he was hit by a rock in the attack, which soon removed all protesters from the area.
Another clash occurred about one mile (1.6 kilometers) away, when dozens of the fleeing students set small fires in a street near a hospital and threw stones at police, who fired more tear gas.
The demonstration occurred on the second anniversary of a police attack that had killed four students at a college in Jakarta at the height of the student-led, pro-democracy movement that forced Suharto to resign as president in 1998.
"Hang Suharto! Hang Suharto!" the demonstrators shouted outside his house in central Jakarta before the police attacks.
"Put Suharto on trial now!" said one of the many posters they carried. Others contained large pictures of the former leader with holes where his eyes should have been.
The former president, who is now 79, has been charged with corruption but not put on trial yet. Lately, he has refused to be questioned by prosecutors, saying he is too ill.
Earlier Friday, a separate anti-Suharto protest by about 1,000 other college students occurred outside Parliament. They demanded that he be prosecuted and that the current government better protect the human rights of Indonesians. Later, that protest ended outside the Defense Ministry.
On Friday morning, a ceremony was held to unveil a new memorial at Trisakti University honoring the four students who died there two years ago. Funded by teachers, students and relatives of the victims, the memorial includes four ten-meter-tall (32-foot) steel pillars.
Each one contains a large bullet hole toward the top. The memorial was installed in a parking lot in front of Trisakti University where the students were shot.
Several hundred students and a few relatives of the victims placed four large wreaths at the base of the monument.
"We really feel the loss of our four colleagues. ... We will continue the struggle for them and the fight for democratic reforms," said Raja Tobing, president of the student union at Trisakti.
The four, killed May 12, 1998, were part of a massive swell of student-led protests and riots that year, which culminated in the downfall of Suharto on May 21.
Despite Suharto's replacement by B.J. Habibie, who introduced some democratic reforms, and the election in October by President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has continued them, many students believe more are needed.
One would include a greater effort by the government to prosecute Suharto for the millions of dollars that he and his family allegedly stole from government funds and programs during his time in office.
"As students, we act as the social and moral conscience of this country, whoever may be running the government," Tobing said. "Together with other students all over Indonesia I'm convinced that more reforms will take place."
Eighteen police were arrested after the Trisakti shootings, but only four have been convicted and sentenced to terms of less than a year in jail for disobeying the orders of their commanders.
None of the accused policemen has faced homicide charges.
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