ZCZC
BFF-31
INDONESIA-POLITICS-DEMONSTRATION-UNREST-RELIGION-LEAD
Second Indonesian student dies in legal-reform protests
KENDARI, Indonesia, Sept 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A second Indonesian student
protester died Friday from injuries sustained during a wave of nationwide
demonstrations against divisive legal reforms, including banning pre-marital
sex and weakening the anti-graft agency, officials said.
The 19-year-old engineering student died of blunt-force head injuries
during riots that erupted in Kendari city on Sulawesi island Thursday,
according to the local hospital director.
The precise circumstances surrounding his death were not clear.
On Friday, police confirmed that the first victim in Kendari was killed by
a live bullet, while insisting that officers were not equipped with live
ammunition.
President Joko Widodo said that he ordered a probe into the students’
deaths, as he faces a key test just weeks before kicking off a second term.
“Since the very start I have instructed the chief of police and his staff
not to act excessively,” the 58-year-old said Friday.
The students’ deaths come after days of pitched street battles across the
Southeast Asian nation that have left hundreds injured and sparked calls for
a probe into allegations of police brutality.
The unrest was fuelled by a proposed bill that includes dozens of legal
changes — from criminalising pre-marital sex and restricting contraceptive
sales, to making it illegal to insult the president and toughening the
Muslim-majority country’s blasphemy law.
Passage of the reforms has now been delayed.
There has also been a backlash against a separate bill that critics fear
would dilute the powers of Indonesia’s corruption-fighting agency, including
its ability to wire-tap graft suspects.
The demonstrations are among the biggest since mass street protests in 1998
brought down the Suharto dictatorship and opened the door to what has become
the world’s third-biggest democracy.
“These very sudden and forceful demonstrations nationwide… make clear
that any moves by (Widodo) to unwind democratic freedoms will face resistance
in the streets by the same segment of society that kickstarted reforms in
1998,” said political risk analyst Kevin O’Rourke.
“Students have sent a firm message that reform matters.” – Political test –
Students issued a wide-ranging list of demands including scrapping some
criminal-code changes, withdrawing troops from Indonesia’s restive Papua
region, and halting forest fires in Sumatra and Borneo that have unleashed
toxic haze across Southeast Asia.
Widodo’s administration sought to portray the protests as being hijacked by
agitators aiming to disrupt government — and suggested they were similar to
deadly post-election riots that paralysed Jakarta in May.
“Jokowi has never faced a situation as complex as this,” said Arya
Fernandes, a political researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic
and International Studies, using Widodo’s common nickname.
“His leadership abilities are being tested,” he added.
The controversial changes could affect millions of Indonesians, including
gay and heterosexual couples who might face jail for having sex outside
wedlock, or having an affair.
Updating Indonesia’s Dutch colonial-era criminal code has been debated for
decades.
A renewed push this year, backed by Islamic groups, was met with a wave of
criticism over what many saw as a draconian law.
Meanwhile, police said Friday that a 22-year-old university student in
Kendari died after being shot the previous day, but repeated earlier claims
that riot police were not carrying live ammunition.
“The autopsy shows it was a gunshot wound from a live bullet,” Southeast
Sulawesi police chief Iriyanto, who goes by one name, told reporters.
“Please trust us and give us time to investigate to find out who the
perpetrators are… If any officer is guilty of this we’ll treat him
according to the law.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1710 hrs