Sleman – Police officers have continued firing teargas to push back the demonstrators at the Yogyakarta Regional Police Headquarters (Mapolda DIY) in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Friday evening August 29.
As of 10.06 pm this evening, the crowd remained around the Mapolda DIY in the Sleman area north of the city. However the crowd was now less concentrated due to the teargas repeatedly fired by police.
Teargas was first fired at around 7 pm and continued to be fired periodically to push the crowd back towards the west.
Some of the protesters ran toward the Condongcatur traffic intersection. Many also sought refuge in the corridors of Pakuwon Mall, which was closing early.
Some also retreated into residential alleyways until the teargas subsided. However, the crowd refused to give up and continued their protest.
"Murderers... murderers... murderers!", the crowd screamed.
Meanwhile an action west of the Mapolda DIY was still ongoing with a police post at the Condongcatur intersection seen to have been damaged.
Several facilities at the Mapolda DIY were also damaged, including the Integrated Police Service Centre (SPKT) room, ATM machines, fences and signboards. Two cars parked inside were also set on fire.
Patrol vehicle targeted by protesters
Meanwhile, according to observations, a police patrol car was also targeted by a mob of protesters demonstrating at the Mapolda DIY Friday evening.
The patrol car was passing westward on the Ring Road in front of or opposite the Mapolda DIY. The crowd still surrounding the police headquarters immediately headed toward the vehicle.
The demonstrators hit and pounded on the car with various hard objects such as sticks or stones. The car was held up for a few seconds before it could escape.
About half an hour later the crowd suddenly scattered and ran westward away from the Mapolda DIY because of the teargas shots.
The teargas however was not enough to stop the protesters. Those who had fled towards Pakuwon Mall returned to the Mapolda DIY shouting "revolution" and "Jogja [Yogyakarta] united, will never be defeated".
Today's protest action occurred after online motorcycle taxi (Ojol) driver Affan Kurniawan was run over and killed by a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) tactical vehicle on Thursday night during a demonstration in Jakarta condemning allowances paid to House of Representative (DPR) members.
In recent days, people from various backgrounds have demonstrated around the parliament building in Jakarta. The protesters have strongly criticised recent DPR policies, including housing allowances for parliamentary members.
Aside from Yogyakarta, similar demonstrations also took place in other Indonesian cities including Surabaya (East Java), Makassar (South Sulawesi) and Bandung (West Java). As of this evening, the demonstrations are still simmering. (kum/kid)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polisi Tembak Gas Air Mata ke Pedemo Polda DIY, Mobil Patroli Diamuk".]
