Students and riot police have clashed across Indonesia, as protesters resisted a raft of new laws they said would make the country more repressive, and less transparent.
Police formed blockades on the roads leading to the parliament building in Jakarta yesterday, where reports stated that more than 20,000 police and military personnel were deployed to maintain order in the capital. More than 500 people were arrested after clashes.
“Clashes between rock-throwing students and riot police broke out in the evening when police tried to disperse the protesters, ranging from high school to university students,” reports The Washington Post. “Protesters set fires to tires and pelted police with rocks, gasoline bombs and firecrackers near blocked streets. Riot police responded by firing tear gas and water cannons.”
Monday’s demonstrations were timed to coincide with the last day of parliament’s five-year session, as 560 members of the House of Representatives concluded their terms.
Last week, in response to the unrest, Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, known popularly as Jokowi, asked the country’s parliament to suspend the vote on the new criminal code. He refused, however, to issue a presidential decree reversing the legislation which sparked the demonstrations.