-Caveat Lector-
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Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 21:36:04 -0400
From: DAMN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: DAMN: 24 SEP-1999: Jakarta Gripped by Second Day of Violent Protests
Title: Jakarta Gripped by Second Day of Violent Protests
Author: Associated Press
Date: 24 SEP-1999
Source: "Ben Isitt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Style: News Story
Violent protests gripped the streets of Jakarta for the second day
Friday, as police struggled to contain crowds enraged by the passage of
a bill giving the military power to revoke civil liberties.
About 500 riot police stormed the Atma Jaya university campus before
dawn, firing volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets.
Inside the campus, police smashed the windows of buildings and cars, and
then withdrew across Jakarta's main boulevard. Several hundred students
were taunting the police.
The clashes closed the thoroughfare, Sudirman Boulevard, into the city
during morning rush hour, forcing tens of thousands of people to walk to
work through tear gas, coughing and holding handkerchiefs to their
faces.
The demonstrations and violence began Thursday with Parliament's
approving the bill, which gives the military more power in "emergency
situations."
Under the new law, the military can ban protests, take over the
telecommunications system and mail service, and ignore existing laws
guaranteeing human rights once a state of emergency is proclaimed.
But many Indonesians, who have supported the country's recent hard-won
democratic reforms, are adamantly opposed to the measure.
Following the bill's passage on Thursday, about 5,000 protesters clashed
with police on a highway leading to Parliament.
"This government wants the military to take over everything," said Dani
Syahrir, a 21-year-old computer technology student. "We, the students of
Indonesia, absolutely reject that because it means the death of
democracy."
Reporters and protesters said three demonstrators were killed in
Thursday's clashes with riot police in the capital, Jakarta. Officials
and hospitals could not confirm the death toll, and there were no
immediate
casualty reports Friday.
A total of 53 people were injured on Thursday, the SCTV network
reported. At least four were rushed to the hospital with bullet wounds,
while other bloodstained protesters were taken to a makeshift clinic at
nearby Atma Jaya University.
Cordons of riot police, carrying shields and wearing cumbersome
protective gear, fired rubber bullets and volleys of tear-gas canisters
on Thursday, clubbing demonstrators and passers-by whom they managed to
corner.
Protesters pelted police with stones, bottles and firebombs, and at
least five officers reportedly suffered burns. Several police cars were
torched. Demonstrators also ripped out metal highway dividers, bending
them to block one of the city's main arteries.
"We must destroy the Suharto-Habibie-Wiranto regime!" shouted a student
who only gave his name as Handono.
President Suharto, who ruled with an iron fist for 32 years, was ousted
last year amid massive pro-democracy protests. He was replaced by
prot�g� B. J. Habibie. Army commander Gen. Wiranto sponsored the new
security bill.
Last year's countrywide outpouring of discontent was largely sparked by
the killing of several pro-democracy supporters in initial
demonstrations.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the country's
second-largest city, Surabaya, and hundreds rallied on the resort island
of Bali.
Similar protests occurred in Semarang, Ujung Pandang and Yogjakarta.
The military's near-total control over Indonesian society has been
slipping since the downfall of Suharto's army-backed dictatorship.
"The bill will be enacted not to serve the interests of the military but
to safeguard the unity of the nation," Wiranto said.
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