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Trisakti students named suspects for Reform protest escalations
The 15 students arrested by the Jakarta Police are charged with inciting mob violence, resisting officers and assaulting police after a violent clash broke out during the protest on Wednesday.
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Activists hold flowers on May 17, 2025, during a prayer and vigil for four Trisakti University students who were shot dead during a protest in 1998 at the university's courtyard in Jakarta. (Antara/Jasmine Nadhya Thanaya)
T
he Jakarta Police have named 16 Trisakti University students suspects after arresting them following a violent clash that broke out during a protest on Wednesday in Jakarta to commemorate the downfall of former president Soeharto, which marked the start of the reform era.
“Based on the investigators’ findings, the 15 [arrested] students were found to have resisted the police officers,” Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ade Ary Syam Indradi said at a televised press briefing on Friday.
“They also committed mob violence, assaulted uniformed police officers by pushing, crushing, hitting, kicking, slamming and biting them and damaged the gate and fence of the Jakarta City Hall,” he continued.
The police also named another student, identified by his initials MAA, who is currently at large as a suspect in the case, bringing the total number of suspects to 16.
Around 93 Trisakti students staged a protest on Wednesday in front of the Jakarta City Hall to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the reform era.
According to human rights group Amnesty International Indonesia, which is representing the students legally, the Trisakti protesters planned to hold a peaceful protest to urge the Jakarta National and Political Unity Agency (Bakesbangpol) to name as national heroes Trisakti students who were shot dead during a protest in May 1998.
Read also: Activists refuse to forget as reform era fades
