Indonesian students protest massacre

JAKARTA — Four hundred students demonstrated at the national parliament here on May 2 in protest against the murder of 24 students by the military in Makassar, Sulawesi.

On April 22, about 500 students rallied in Makassar for the lowering of public transport fares. By the second day of the campaign, the number of students involved had soared to 2000.

The military responded with violence, killing 24 and injuring about 100 students. This has sparked protests in the cities of Bandung, Solo, Surabaya, Palu and Yogyakarta, organised by Student Solidarity for Democracy in Indonesia (SMID).

In Jakarta, a broad alliance, Student and Youth Solidarity for the Victims of the Makassar Massacre, has been formed.

At the May 2 protest, solidarity messages were read out from campuses around Indonesia. Songs and poems of the democracy struggle were presented. Then the rally peacefully marched to the Golkar (governing party) caucus to present its demands.

Garda Sembiring of SMID said, "We the people of Indonesia are deeply hurt with the military's version of this case, which viewed the demonstration as simply a riot, denying the fact that this is essentially people's struggle to demand their rights ... This is only the beginning of the campaign."

From GLW issue 230