At least three people died in the fire of a public building caused in southern celebrations by protesters at the time a protest movement extends to Indonesia after the death of a motorcycle taxi crushed by a police vehicle.
President Pabowo Subaianto has faced the most violent demonstrations since he came to power in October. They lit the main cities of the country, after the death of the 21 -year -old driver, whose video, which has gone viral, is very surprised.
Confrontation with the Police
This event set fire to dust when the clashes had just taken place between the police and the population, exasperated by economic difficulties and corruption.
On Friday night, the demonstrations in Makassar, the main city of the southern celebrations, degenerated. The protesters set fire to a building of the Provincial and Local Council of the city, launched cocktails and Molotov and set the vehicles fire.
Three people trapped by the flames, two employees of the local council and an official, died, announced Rahmat Mappatoba, secretary of the Mena Makassar. At least another four have been hospitalized, he added, accusing protesters of having assaulted these facilities to turn on fire.
“Revolution”
The images published by the local media showed that hundreds of people applauded and shouted while the fire was furious. Few security forces were visible nearby. In a video, you could hear a man exclaiming: “There are people up!”
Inside the building, the protesters lit several lights while parts of the building collapsed. Other protesters broke windows and sang “revolution.”
Windiyatno, military chief of the southern region of Celebes, said Saturday in a statement that the situation in Makassar was “again normal.” Previously, the violent clashes had exploded Friday afternoon in several cities of Indonesia among police officers and protesters who require responsible after the death of the Taxi-Moto Affaniawan driver.
Police achieved tear gas to repel hundreds of protesters gathered in the capital, Yakarta. Thousands of drivers have also gathered near the headquarters of the Mobile Police Brigade in Yakarta, scattered with tear gas.
On Saturday, the demonstrations continued in different cities. Hundreds of motor-taxi students and drivers demonstrated in front of the police headquarters on the island of Bali.
“Bali is the Tourism Center in Indonesia, and we want to protest here to attract international attention to legal injustice, corruption and impunity for police crimes,” said Narendra Wicaksono, one of the protesters.
On the neighboring island of Lombok, protesters broke and burned the construction of the local council of the capital, Mataram, despite the tear gas launched by the police. A demonstration in Surabaya also took place in front of the police headquarters, according to an AFP journalist.
President Prabowo Subianto went to the Moto-Taxi house that died to present his condolences on Friday, without making a statement to the press.
A little earlier, the president had ordered that the circumstances of the death of the young driver be “transparent”, expressing “his sincere condolences” on behalf of the government and asking for calm. Seven agents were arrested after the driver’s death.
An ethics trial
The head of the National Police, Listyo Sigit Pabowo, said on Saturday that the officers would face a trial on the ethics of his profession that could last a week. “If they are guilty, there is the possibility that we deal with the case as a crime,” he added at a press conference.
The confrontations between the protesters and the police had already exploited Thursday on salary claims and the advantages considered excessive of which the deputies benefit, in particular their monthly home allocation. The latter amounts to 50 million rupees (US $ 3,034), almost 10 times the minimum wage in Yakarta.
The demonstrations have extended to other important cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya, in eastern Java, and Medan, in the province of Sumatra (West), while the dissatisfaction of the population grew against the management of the economy by the government.
Some of the president’s decisions, including the generalized budget cuts announced this year to finance in particular their emblematic free meals program for schoolchildren and a new sovereign fund, were particularly little perceived. The president has the ambition to transform the greatest economy into Southeast Asia into a great world power.
Source: BFM TV
