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24 workers arrested during demonstration in front of State Palace
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2015
Tribunnews.com reported that two activists from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) – Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Luitnan – also suffered from serious injuries when the police violently dispersed the protesters.
"Tigor and Obet were hit by police officers as they tried to document the event with their smart phones. They were forcibly dragged and beaten even though they said that they were only accompanying the protesters," said LBH Jakarta director Alghiffari Aqsa on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the police accused the arrested workers of provoking other demonstrators to conduct violence when addressing the crowd through loudspeakers mounted on the mini trucks used to bring workers to the demonstration.
Based on the existing regulations, the demonstration had to end at 6 p.m. and police officers first warned the protesters to immediately leave Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, in front of State Palace at 6:30 p.m.
"After the warning around 2,000 protesters left the location, but some 3,000 workers were still there," he said.
A third warning was made at 7:15 p.m. and finally, the police used bodily force to disperse the protesters after a water canon failed to expel them from the street. The vast majority of protesters left after tear gas was used, but 24 workers still did not leave the street.
"There were 24 protesters who did not leave the location after we had warned them three times. They even continued provoking us from their vehicle," said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Muhammad Iqbal on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.
Some 12,000 workers from Jakarta and its surrounding cities demonstrated in front of the state place on Friday. Many of them wanted to spend the night on the street and await a government response to their demands.
According to Alghifari, the workers' demonstration was peaceful and it was it was the police's violent actions that had sparked the turmoil. He demanded that Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen Tito Karnavian punish the police officers involved and free the 24 workers. (BBN)
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