KontraS keeps monitoring this. If there is proof against police officers who commit violent acts they must be punished
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) has urged the Indonesian Police to legally process officers using violence and excessive force against university students staging demonstrations in several regions Tuesday, September 24.

"KontraS keeps monitoring this. If there is proof against police officers who commit violent acts they must be punished," Yati Andriyani, KontraS Coordinator, told the press here Wednesday. The violent crackdown on university students who were involved in demonstrations, as done earlier, needs to stop as it only triggers anger among the students and the public, she said.

The NGO also asked the police to release the students arrested during rallies to protest changes in the laws on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Criminal Codes (KUHP), among other things.

The police must also not prevent access to legal aid for the arrested students, she added.

"Today, KontraS will open a command post to receive complaints, in cooperation with other civilian networks," she disclosed.

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In the meantime, the Jakarta Police reported that 39 police officers and 265 university students were injured during the rally in front of the Parliament Building in Jakarta Tuesday. Of the total 265 students, 254 were allowed to return home after receiving medical treatment and 11 others must be hospitalized.

Some 18 thousand police officers were deployed to guard the rally in Jakarta.

In West Java, the police detained 68 people during a rally in front of the local legislative council building on Tuesday. Later, 64 were released and four remained in prison for using illicit drugs. University students staged several demonstrations, taking to the streets in regions across Indonesia over the past several days to oppose the revisions and passage of several laws and controversial laws as they were regressive to democracy and in the fight against corruption.

The rallies in Jakarta, Makassar, Medan and several other regions Tuesday, September 24, turned chaotic, as police personnel used water cannons and fired teargas shells to compel students to leave. Some of them chased the students and battered them with clubs, injuring them.

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Translator: Dyah Dwi Astuti, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019