Jakarta – A rally commemorating International Labour Day or May Day in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang on May 1 was marred by chaos. Several people were also arrested by police.
Initially, the labour demonstration that was attended by various labour alliances went smoothly. Then, at around 4.25 pm, a group of people wearing black and masks were seen trying to enter the Central Java governor's building.
Not long after, there was a riot between the black-shirted group and the police. The group then damaged the hedge at a park on Jalan Pahlawan in Mugassari Village, South Semarang district.
According to the Detik news portal, police officers managed to stop the group dressed in black who were about to enter the Central Java governor's office. The group was then seen setting fire to several parts of the hedge.
At around 5.30 pm the chaos began to reach its climax and Mobile Brigade (Brimob) para-military personnel intervened by throwing tear gas. Then the sound of firecrackers was heard from the black-shirted group's side.
At the same time, several demonstrators were also seen being dragged away by police officers towards the Central Java Social Service Office. One of the students who managed to get out was seen bleeding from the head and had a injured arm. "They wanted to take my cell phone, I defended myself", said the student.
Meanwhile, police began combing the area around the governor's office up to the Diponegoro University Pleburan campus. Dozens of personnel using motorbikes and Brimob cars were deployed around the area. The protesters disbanded at around 6 pm.
Central Java Regional Police (Polda) public relations head Senior Commissioner Arianto said that they secured dozens of people. According to Arianto, they were forced to do this so that the Labour Day celebrations would remain orderly.
"The trade unions and workers have conveyed their aspirations and had been received by the governor, Praise be to Allah it went smoothly. However, behind all this, it turns out there is another group, namely an anarchist group that joined other student groups who held an anarchist protest action", said Arianto.
According to Arianto, the group set fires, throw objects at officers, so they were dispersed by being pushed back. He said that it was in accordance with police standard operating procedures (SOP). "Praise be to Allah, the push back went well and we managed to disperse the anarchist activity", he said.
He admitted that there were several people who were arrested. However, it is not yet known exactly how many people were taken to the Semarang Metropolitan Police (Polrestabes) station.
"There were several people from the anarchists that we secured because the people concerned were provocateurs. We secured or arrested them because the people concerned were provocateurs", he said.
Semarang Police Chief (Kapolrestabes) Senior Commissioner Muhammad Syahduddi also confirmed that incident in which police pushed the protesters back. He confirmed that his personnel pushed the demonstrators back in order to maintain a conducive situation.
"Earlier we pushed them back and dispersed the crowd with crowd control vehicles and now the situation is conducive, we pushed them back and dispersed the crowd", he said.
Journalists arrested
Syahduddi claimed that he did not know how many people were arrested. He also claimed that he did not know about a report on two journalists who were arrested by the police while covering the Labour Day rally.
One of the journalists arrested was Tempo reporter Jamal Abdun Nashr and the other is said to be from the student press.
"I didn't see that, we'll check later. We'll investigate further. I don't know, I don't know yet. What's clear is that a group of students were secured", he explained.
Nashr, who was detained by the police, said that officers deleted a video he had recorded. At the time, Nashr said that he had managed to document the police arresting students.
"Earlier, when the police arrested several people, because they thought the arrest method was inhumane, they pulled me over, and I managed to document it. As usual, when arrests are documented, in the end I was pulled over", said Nashr.
"After that, I was taken in, asked for my cell phone, they asked me to delete the video. When I looked on my cell phone, the video file was no longer there", he continued.
Nashr claimed to be wearing his press card while covering the May Day action and had shown it to the police. However, he was still taken into the Central Java Social Services Office.
"I was pulled, pinned, then slammed to the ground. It lasted about a minute. I was able to get out because fellow journalists immediately helped me get out", said Nashr.
"I even showed them my press ID, I said I was a journalist, they said 'why are you recording? We are the authorities'. At that time I didn't give in, I tried to stand firm, tried not to get emotional", he continued.
Police claims denied
Meanwhile, Semarang Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) public defender Muhammad Safali said that around 18 students were detained by the police during this demonstration.
"Earlier, teargas and water cannon were fired which was done brutally by the police. There were incidents of beatings and pursuits. Currently, the provisional data we have collected is that around 18 people have currently been taken to the Semarang Polrestabes", said Safali.
In addition to this, several students were rushed to the nearest hospital plus protesters' motorbikes were also taken away by the police and their whereabouts are unknown.
"So, we from LBH Semarang are inviting a show of solidarity, inviting efforts to provide legal assistance so that our comrades can be released as soon as possible tonight", said Safali.
"The accusation that it was anarchists isn't true. The students agreed to join the workers' actions, that accusation is not true. Including the accusation of provocation of the masses", he added. (dmi/dmi)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polisi Amankan Belasan Orang di Demo May Day Semarang".]
