(13 Nov 1998) Natural Sound
At least three people have been killed and hundreds of others injured after Indonesian security forces opened fire with plastic bullets on students trying to march on parliament.
Police also turned water cannons and tear gas on the rock-throwing protesters.
It was the bloodiest day of protest in a week of student demonstrations against a special government assembly.
Friday’s violence erupted at several points near Indonesia’s parliament buildings.
Students marched from at least three campuses in the capital Jakarta in defiance of military warnings.
They attempted to march on Parliament where a special government assembly was putting the final touches to a new political blueprint for the troubled Southeast Asian nation.
But the students didn’t get far as government troops fired warning shots and chased thousands of protesters down Jakarta’s main boulevard where offices and shops were closed.
Soldiers were seen firing what appeared to be blanks and plastic bullets into buildings at Atama Jaya Catholic University.
Several students, some bleeding, were later taken out on stretches.
More than 100 students were hospitalised, some with serious injuries.
Mobs then began burning tyres as baton-wielding soldiers dispersed the crowd.
The student demonstrators oppose a special government assembly convened by President Suharto’s successor, President B-J Habibie.
The assembly is mapping out a new political system at a time when Indonesia battles with its worst economic crisis in decades.
The assembly was expected to announce a date for the elections and to support new laws to legalise many political parties.
Students, however, demand greater democratic change, including an end to military involvement in politics.
They also want former ousted president Suharto put on trial for corruption and human rights abuses.
In concession to student demands, factions in the assembly have agreed to name Suharto in a decree calling for an investigation into past corruption.
Inflation, unemployment and poverty rates are soaring in Indonesia.
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