...It is impossible for Red Cross personnel to carry stones for (demonstrating) students, much less [for them] to use ambulances to do so...Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) on Wednesday denied allegations that one of its ambulances carried stones for distribution among students in a rally against a fuel price hike in Jakarta the day before.
"It is impossible for Red Cross personnel to carry stones for (demonstrating) students, much less [for them] to use ambulances to do so," PMI Chief Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday.
All Red Cross personnel show a high degree of discipline and work for humanitarian interests, he stated.
Kalla, who is also the former Indonesian vice president said the PMI fielded 12 ambulances to help those injured in the rally, which ended in clashes with police in Jakarta on Tuesday (March 27).
The PMI ambulances were used solely to take demonstrators who were injured in the rally to the hospital to receive immediate treatment, he asserted.
"I have phoned the chief of the PMI's chapter in Jakarta to ask for clarification [about the allegations]. I also told him to assure [the public] that he deployed 12 ambulances to evacuate students injured in the rally instead of carrying stones for the demonstrators," he said.
It is likely that police found an injured student carrying a stone aboard a PMI ambulance, Kalla remarked.
The Indonesian government is planning to raise the price of subsidized fuel by Rp 1.5 thousand to Rp 6 thousand per liter on April 1, citing a surge in global crude prices that may put a strain on the state budget. However, the plan has sparked demonstrations in several parts of the country.
Several people were injured in the rally against the fuel price hike in Jakarta on Tuesday.
(S012/INE)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
