Indonesian police use tear gas to disperse student riots
Indonesian police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse a student protest that turned into a riot.
Yesterday (April 11), thousands of students in Indonesia held large-scale protests in many localities to demand the government to listen to the aspirations of the youth and the people, including not delaying the 2024 general election and ensuring price stability for basic necessities. In some localities, the protests ended in riots.
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| Police used tear gas to disperse rioters in front of the House of Representatives in the capital Jakarta. Photo: Republika |
At the Indonesian House of Representatives building in the capital Jakarta, although the National Police Chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo and three Deputy Speakers of the Indonesian House of Representatives met with thousands of protesters for dialogue. However, the situation began to heat up when some Indonesian protesters began throwing stones, wood, bottles at police officers, forcing the authorities to deploy dispersal measures with water cannons and tear gas. The crowd then became chaotic and burned police headquarters and tires.
Similar situations occurred in other provinces and cities across the country from Makassar City, South Sulawesi; Padang City, West Sumatra to Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi. Police arrested many extremist protesters. Meanwhile, in East Sulawesi, protesters clashed with security forces, resulting in the death of a police officer in the line of duty.
Commander of the Jaya Regional Military Command, Major General Untung Budiharto, hopes that this will be the last protest by students, because although Indonesian students have pledged to protest peacefully, there are still agitators causing chaos, affecting the intention to express the legitimate aspirations of students and people.
Previously, the Indonesian Student Executive Board said that there were about 1,000 protests taking place simultaneously on April 11 across Indonesia. This is the largest protest by Indonesian students in the past 2 years, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in this country. The protest took place despite Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordering ministers to stop talking about extending the presidential term and affirming that he will not postpone the 2024 election. The Indonesian government is also offering food and cash subsidies to the poor for 3 months when inflation is high, prices of items such as gasoline, food, and cooking oil are increasing./.
