JAKARTA, April 11 (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Monday used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of students protesting against rising cooking oil prices and a possible term extension of President Joko Widodo.
According to testimony collected by Reuters, demonstrators were seen in Jakarta, the capital of the archipelago, running away from the scene of the clashes, facing the Parliament. The Kompas TV channel said stones were thrown inside the building.
The rally was part of a series of protests across Indonesia on Monday, including in South Sulawesi province, West Java and Jakarta, where hundreds of students dressed in neon jackets marched towards the Parliament.
Students were demonstrating to protest rising prices and the prospect of President Joko Widodo extending his two-term term limit.
Jakarta police chief Fadil Imran told a news conference that a university professor participating in the protest suffered “serious” injuries, after a group of “non-students “hit him and stomped on him. Six police officers who tried to help the lecturer were also injured, he added.
He did not say why the group targeted the speaker.
On Sunday, Joko Widodo tried to quell rumors of a plan drawn up by his allies to keep him in power longer. A hypothesis considered more and more seriously after certain influential political figures publicly supported this idea. (Reporting Johan Purnomo and Stanley Widianto, French version Augustin Turpin; editing by Kate Entringer)
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