JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian students said they will protest at Jakarta’s police headquarters on Friday after a motorcycle rider died when he was hit by a police vehicle during violent clashes following a demonstration outside the parliament the day before.
Muzammil Ihsan, head of Indonesia’s largest student union, told Reuters that students will protest against police violence on Friday afternoon, and he expected other student groups to attend.
On Thursday, demonstrators were protesting a number of issues including lawmakers’ pay, education funding and the government’s school meals programme. As the protest persisted into the night, local media reported that riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons to try to disperse people.
The capital’s police chief, Asep Edi Suheri, said that during the clashes an armoured police vehicle hit and killed a motorcycle rideshare driver. A motorcycle drivers’ association said the dead man was not involved in the protests.
“As police chief and on behalf of the entire unit, I would like to express my deepest apologies and condolences,” he said in a press conference late on Thursday.
The seven crew of the armoured vehicle have been arrested and an investigation is underway, Abdul Karim, head of the professional and security division of the Indonesian police, told the news conference.
Following the death, a group led by motorcycle drivers protested in front of the riot police’s headquarters on Thursday night, local media reported. Kompas TV reported on Friday that military officers were sent to the building to calm dozens of protesting drivers.
Jakarta Legal Aid, in a post on Instagram, urged the government and police to release 600 people who had been arrested during the demonstrations.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair)
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