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'Student deaths possibly unlawful killing'

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has claimed that police personnel may have unlawfully killed two university students in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, during a student protest in the city last month

Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, October 16, 2019

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'Student deaths possibly unlawful killing'

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span>The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has claimed that police personnel may have unlawfully killed two university students in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, during a student protest in the city last month.

The commission urged the police to identify and firmly punish the perpetrators if found guilty to avoid similar incidents from happening in the future.

Kontras coordinator Yati Andriani revealed during a press conference on Monday that a student from Haluoleo University in Kendari, Muhammad Yusuf Kardawi, was the first victim "to fall on the ground" while the police were trying to disperse the rally held in the heart of the city. He was believed to have been shot by the police before the second victim named La Randi also collapsed after being shot.

A witness who intended to help Yusuf retreated upon seeing a man pointing a gun at him from inside the city's manpower agency's compound. "Our witnesses believe this man was a police officer, as the compound was filled with security forces during the rally," Yati said.

The witnesses further revealed that Yusuf, who stumbled to the ground, was then approached and assaulted by police personnel using their batons. Friends who rushed the victim to a nearby hospital said his head was bleeding severely and the skull appeared to be fractured.

Yusuf died the following day, while Randi died soon after being shot. "The bullet hit his left arm and came out on the right hand side of his chest," Yati said, describing the police actions as "disproportionate, excessive and unwarranted".

The incident on Sept. 26 occurred amid a series of rallies held by tens of thousands of students nationwide since Sept. 23 to protest against several controversial bills, including a revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission Law that was regarded by the demonstrators as an attempt to roll back the country's anticorruption commitment.

Some of the protests, including in Jakarta, Bandung in West Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi, descended into clashes between student protesters and security forces, with reports of police using severe measures against protesters and journalists.

A researcher at Kontras, Rivanlee Anandar, revealed in the same press briefing that two people killed in the Jakarta rallies — from Sept. 23 to 25 — appeared to have been beaten to death by the police.

Akbar Alamsyah, 19, spent 15 days in a coma before succumbing to his injuries last Thursday. He received serious head injuries during a protest outside the House of Representatives complex in Central Jakarta on Sept. 25.

The police insist that Akbar sustained the injuries after falling from the 2-meter-high fence near the House complex.

Another fatality, Maulana Suryadi, 23, died as a result of what the police described as "shortness of breath" on Sept. 26. His family, however, claim that Maulana's body was badly bruised and he suffered continuous bleeding from the ears and nose even after he was declared dead.

Footage showing apparent police brutality while handling the protests has gone viral on the internet. During postelection protests in May this year at least eight individuals died, some as a result of gunshot wounds.

"We're afraid that future demonstrations will see further fatalities if the police's maladministration is not addressed properly," said Rivanlee.

The Jakarta Post was unable to get a comment from the police.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and House members have demanded an investigation be launched into the deaths of the students.

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