In Indonesia, violent clashes between riot police and protesters have erupted, with low-paid residents reportedly receiving low wages from the general public.
After a video of a delivery rider being allegedly run over by an armored police vehicle at a rally last week went viral, causing outrage in several of Southeast Asia’s biggest cities, tensions erupted on Sunday.
At least three people were killed in a fire started by protesters at a council building in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, according to a local official.
Less than a year into his rule, the protests are the largest and most violent of Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, which is a crucial test for the ex-general.
Over the weekend, protesters gathered again in various locations throughout Indonesia’s vast archipelago. In front of Bali, Indonesia’s most well-known tourist hotspot, hundreds of students and “ojek” motorcycle taxi drivers staged a protest.
As social media app TikTok announced it had temporarily suspended its live feature for “a few days” in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users, hundreds of students in Surabaya also staged a demonstration outside the East Java police headquarters.
On Friday, hundreds of people gathered outside the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob), the paramilitary police force they blamed for the death of motorcycle performer Affan Kurniawan the day before in Jakarta.
President Prabowo urged calm and mandated an investigation into the driver’s death, calling on the police to be held accountable.
Source: Aljazeera
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