Students released

Students arrested during an army attack on demonstrators at the Indonesian National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN) on June 24 have been released.

The releases followed a confrontation at a hearing of one of the parliament's commissions of inquiry. Students attended from ISTN and from the Universitas Nasional (UNNAS), which had suffered similar military attacks the previous month. In both cases several students were severely injured, with two blinded in the clash on UNNAS.

A confrontation developed when the commission's spokesperson, from the Armed Forces fraction in the parliament, demanded the students indicate who their leaders were. The students stated that they were at the meeting as a collective and that there were no leaders.

“But there are always leaders in society”, demanded the army officer. The debate continued, with the “parliamentarians” refusing to speak any further with the students. Finally, the students appointed a “coordinator”.

The students' main demand was that there be an end to military interference and intervention on campus. They listed the number of people injured during the army's attacks. The parliamentarians promised to look into the matter.

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