JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – An angry mob sets fire to a local parliament building in the Indonesian state’s capital, killing at least three people and five others hospitalized, officials said.
The flames in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, began late Friday. Television reports show that state legislative buildings will be burning overnight, changing the area’s eerie orange colour.
Rescuers had recovered three bodies by Saturday morning and five people were hospitalized with burns and fractures after jumping out of the building, local disaster official Fadri Tahar said.
Protesters from Bandung, West Java, also burned the regional council on Friday, but no casualties were reported. In Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, protesters raided the area’s police headquarters after destroying fences and destroying vehicles. Security forces fired tear gas and used cannons, but demonstrators fought fireworks and wooden clubs.
The calm has returned to the main Indonesia The capital on Saturday as authorities cleaned burnt-out cars, police stations and bus shelters Angry protestor.
Five Days of Protest It started with Jakarta It was triggered by reports on Monday that all 580 lawmakers will receive monthly housing allowances of Rs 50 million ($3,075) in addition to their salaries. The allowances introduced last year are almost 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta.
Critics argue that the new allowances are not only overloaded, but are also insensitive to a period when most people are working to raise the cost of living, taxes and rising unemployment rates.
The protest became more widely violent after the death of 21-year-old driver Awan Kruniawang. A social media video showing his death during a rally in the capital Jakarta on Thursday shocked the country and urged protests against security forces.
Kurniawan reportedly completed the food delivery order when he was caught up in the collision. Witnesses told local television that an armored vehicle from the National Police Mobile Brigade squad suddenly plunged through the crowds of protesters and attacked Kruniawan. Instead of stopping, the car ran over him.
Clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in several Indonesian cities, including Medan, Solo, Jogya Karta, Maglan, Maran, Benkul, Pekanbaru and Manokwari, in the easternmost parts of the Papua region.
The violent police crackdown on protesters left around 951 people arrested at rallys alone in Jakarta by Thursday, according to the National Commission on Human Rights, or Komnath Ham.
Authorities said about 25 officers were seriously injured after being attacked by Jakarta protesters. Comunas Ham believed the number of injured people on the part of the community was much larger.
Amnesty International criticized the Indonesian government on Saturday, saying it was suppressing freedom of speech with its crackdown on public protests.
“No one should lose his life to exercise his right to protest,” said Usmanhamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia. “The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release those who have been detained solely to exercise their rights,” he said.
Authorities confirmed that seven members of the police motor brigade linked to Jakarta’s death were detained and questioned.
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Associated Press journalists Dita Alangkara and Jakarta’s Achmad Ibrahim contributed to this report.
