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Jakarta Post

BIN suspects protests engineered

Violent student protests outside the House of Representatives on Tuesday were masterminded by someone identified only as "FY", the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) said Wednesday

Desy Nurhayati (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, June 26, 2008

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BIN suspects protests engineered

Violent student protests outside the House of Representatives on Tuesday were masterminded by someone identified only as "FY", the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) said Wednesday.

Syamsir Siregar said FY had told him a month earlier that there would be street rallies and riots in front of the House and Atma Jaya University in Central Jakarta, Antara news agency reported.

"FY has fled the country and not yet been arrested," he said after a meeting at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

Syamsir said he suspected FY, who was not a politician, engineered the rioting, which brought traffic to a standstill in parts of the city.

At least 1,000 protesters clashed with police when officers tried to arrest more violent protesters who threw stones and tried to break down the House's gates, while other protesters damaged nine cars. One car was burned in front of Atma Jaya University.

Police arrested 16 people outside the university, but later released 13 of them. They said the protesters included students as well as hired thugs.

"We have detained three people now. Two of them are graduates of universities in Medan and Jakarta, while the third is a high school graduate," deputy spokesman of the National Police Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak told The Jakarta Post.

He said police also arrested another man suspected to be a coordinator of the Atma Jaya protests. Another 29 people were arrested at the Jatinegara train station later at night for alleged involvement in the House riots.

He said all the detainees would be questioned at the city police headquarters.

Dozens of students from various universities, including the National University (Unas) and Muhammadiyah University, protested outside the headquarters, demanding police release the student detainees.

They also demanded the government scrap the 30 percent fuel price rise it imposed last month, and called for an inquiry into the death of Maftuh Fauzi, a Unas student who died on June 20, one month after a clashing with police in a violent protest.

On Wednesday evening, 50 students staged another protest at the Senayan circle in Central Jakarta, vandalizing a police station and damaging a CCTV camera in the process. Dedi Tri, a student at Moestopo Beragama University, was arrested and taken to police headquarters.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has renewed calls for increased security and unity in the country.

"Any extreme act of violence in Jakarta is a cause of concern for the whole nation. I call on all citizens to maintain public security and orderliness," he said at the State Palace.

Yudhoyono said it was important to build a solid democracy and avoid violence for the sake of the people, especially ahead of the 2009 general election. (ind)

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