INDONESIA: STUDENTS TRY TO STORM PARLIAMENT

(17 Dec 1998) Natural Sound

Riot squads in Indonesia fired warning shots and tear gas when about four-thousand students demanding democratic reform tried to storm the parliament.

Many of the protesters threw rocks and bottles at troops who beat them back with clubs in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indonesian troops blocked about four-thousand students from getting to the parliament in Jakarta.

Soldiers ordered reporters and news crews to leave the scene.

A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security forces wanted the students to disperse and would not negotiate with them.

It is the second straight day that students have clashed with security forces in the Indonesian capital.

Angry students pulled down and set fire to tents set up by the troops near the legislature.

The students converged on the heavily guarded legislature in two groups on Thursday.

They marched to the Parliament demanding political reform and the release of activists arrested by the police this week.

The outnumbered soldiers retreated briefly after the students tried to run into the parliamentary grounds.

But the protesters scattered when troops responded with warning shots and tear gas.

An official at the nearby Jakarta Hospital said 35 students were injured.

Most had been beaten or were overcome by gas.

The military said at least two soldiers were injured.

Also on Thursday, dozens of riot police and troops blocked about 100 students from reaching the presidential palace.

Religious groups have called on students to end their protest campaign during the forthcoming holy Islamic month of Ramadan, which starts on Sunday.

For weeks, students have been holding street protests demanding that President Habibie force the military out of politics and put his autocratic predecessor, ex-President Suharto, on trial for corruption.

Student protests and deadly riots last May forced Suharto to quit after 32 years in power.

On Wednesday, police fired tear gas and wielded batons to disperse hundreds of rock-throwing protesters at the Defence Ministry, not far from the presidential palace.

On November 13th, security forces shot dead nine student protesters when thousands tried to march on Parliament.

Habibie has promised to open up the tightly controlled political system and to hold elections next year.

But the students are not satisfied and stage demonstrations almost daily in Jakarta and other cities.

Anger at Habibie's seven-month old government has been sharpened by a continuing economic crisis, which has resulted in soaring inflation, mass unemployment and rising poverty.

As the evening drew in, more riot police took to the streets to ensure trouble makers had left the area near the parliament.

Later on in the evening some protesters were still out in force and lit bonfires on a toll road in Jakarta.

Some threw rocks at passing traffic.

But as nighttime fell tempers seemed to be a bit more relaxed.

Sporadic rioting and looting has hit some parts of the country.

There has also been violence among the Muslim majority and the Christian minority, with dozens of mosque and churches set alight or ransacked.

Indonesia, with 202 (m) million people, is the world's fourth most populous country, with more than 300 ethnic groups spread over 17-thousand islands.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...