Six people were killed in unrest in Indonesia as a result of the country’s economic hardship, which sparked violent outrage against the country’s police force.
President Prabowo Subianto has been forced to make a U-turn over the measures as a result of the deadly protests that started last week over financial perks for lawmakers.
After footage showed one of its teams running over delivery driver Affan Kurniawan, age 21, in the late evening of Thursday, demonstrations had started peacefully but quickly turned violent against the elite paramilitary police force.
In the worst unrest since Prabowo took office, protests have since spread from the capital, Jakarta, to other major cities, including Yogyakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya in Java, and Medan in North Sumatra province.
On Monday, more gatherings of students and protesters were planned in various locations throughout Indonesia’s vast archipelago.
On Monday, police began patrolling the capital, Jakarta, and a police spokesman informed a broadcaster, Kompas TV, that officers were also there to “protect” residents and provide a sense of security.
Late on Sunday, police attempted to avert protesters by deploying a convoy of armored cars and motorcycles to parliament.
Due to the current economic crisis, Prabowo had to cancel a trip to China this week for a military parade to honor World War II’s eve.
After the house of the Minister of Finance was pillaged, his close ally, the Minister of Defense, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, warned on Sunday that the military and police would “firm action” against “rioters and looters.”
A fire at a council building in Makassar’s eastern city on Friday that was started by protesters killed at least three people.
Local disaster agency official Muhammad Fadli Tahar told AFP on Sunday that another victim had died in Makassar on Friday after being beaten by a mob on suspicion that he was an intelligence officer.
Rheza Sendy Pratama, a student at Amikom Yogyakarta University, passed away in Yogyakarta in protest, but his cause of death is still unknown.
Source: Aljazeera
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