Protests erupt in Indonesia over death of man hit by police vehicle
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Version 0 of 1. Government faces calls for police reform amid violent clashes across Jakarta and demonstrations in other cities Hundreds of Indonesians have protested at sites across Jakarta over the death of a man hit by a police vehicle, in the first big test for Prabowo Subianto’s nearly year-old government. The man, a motorcycle ride-sharing driver, was hit at the site of violent clashes near parliament on Thursday as police sought to disperse demonstrators protesting about a number of issues including lawmakers’ pay and education funding. The protests on Friday afternoon in the capital of south-east Asia’s largest economy prompted a number of schools to close early, and banks and businesses to ask employees to work from home. The military was deployed in some areas, footage broadcast by local media showed. Drivers, students and Indonesians from other walks of life gathered outside the country’s parliament and police headquarters in Jakarta to protest on Friday, throwing rocks at the gates and chanting: “Killer. Killer.” One of the protesters, Pendi Nasir, a 43-year-old motorcycle driver, called for the police to conduct a transparent investigation into the death of the driver, Affan Kurniawan. “We don’t want our colleagues here to become victims of this riot again,” he told Reuters, urging action against those at fault. The standup comedian Aci Resti attended a protest at the parliament against the housing allowance for lawmakers. “I’m here to voice the opinions of my friends, who are fed up with everything, with the members of the House of Representatives, with everything, with the government,” she said. Protesters were undeterred by the earlier remarks of Prabowo, the country’s president, who called for calm, expressed condolences for Kurniawan’s death and ordered a thorough investigation. “I am shocked and disappointed by the excessive actions of the officers,” Prabowo said in a video message. “I have ordered a thorough and transparent investigation … and officers involved must be held accountable.” Drivers wearing their signature green jackets also staged protests in other cities, including Surabaya and Bandung on Java island, and Gorontalo on the island of Sulawesi. Amid the unrest, the rupiah closed 0.9% weaker against the US dollar, at 16,495. The stock index fell by as much as 2.3% to hit its lowest point since 12 August, before closing 1.5% down after recovering some of its losses on Friday. “If Prabowo isn’t careful … protests may devolve into chaos,” Made Supriatma, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told Reuters. As Thursday’s protest persisted into the night, local media reported that riot police fired teargas and used water cannon to try to disperse people. The capital’s police chief, Asep Edi Suheri, said that during the clashes on Thursday an armoured police vehicle had hit and killed Kurniawan, who worked for the ride-sharing services Gojek and Grab. He apologised to Kurniawan’s family. A motorcycle drivers’ association said Kurniawan was not involved in the protests. On Friday afternoon, the national police official Abdul Karim told reporters that authorities would detain for 20 days the seven police officers who were in the vehicle that hit Kurniawan for a breach of ethics and said questioning was taking place. After Kurniawan’s death, a group led by motorcycle drivers protested in front of the riot police’s headquarters on Thursday night and on Friday, local media reported. Kurniawan’s funeral was attended by hundreds of fellow ride-sharing motorcycle drivers, who escorted his body to the burial site in a convoy of two-wheelers through the centre of Jakarta. “We are deeply disappointed, especially with the security officials and national police chief,” Ari Potret, a driver who attended Kurniawan’s funeral, told Reuters. “This is barbaric.” Jakarta Legal Aid urged the government to release 600 people who had been arrested during the demonstrations. |