Jakarta Election Law Protest: Police Arrest Protesters as DPR Gates Fall

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tension rises at the protest against the House of Representatives (DPR) today, Thursday, August 22, 2024. The police have begun arresting, beating, and kicking the protestors who are forcing their way inside the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta. 

Some protestors also throw bottles and stones at the police. "Attention fellow students, please don’t throw and conduct the demonstration in an orderly manner,” one of the police personnel says through a speaker. 

The onsite crew of Tempo recorded some protestors being arrested and taken away from the crowd by police. One of the protesters was recorded being kicked by the police during the arrest.

A few moments earlier, protestors managed to force their way into the courtyard of the DPR Building by breaking the left wing gate of the complex this afternoon.

Protesters also managed to tear down the fence at the back door of the DPR Building. Based on Tempo's monitoring at the location, the demonstrators climb over the 1.75-meter-high fence. Previously, they also tore down the police barricade fence installed in front of the back gate of the DPR Building.

The protestors don jackets belonging to several universities. Some also wear attributes of student movements and organizations. Approximately a thousand protestors joined in the action at the back gate of the DPR Building.

Hundreds of police block the protestors from entering the DPR ground. The police were equipped with anti-riot gear and managed to hold back the masses 20 meters into the gate. 

The police set up an iron barricade at the entrance to DPR to anticipate demonstrators who had jumped over the fence. Two water cannons and one barracuda car are on standby at the entrance to safeguard the protest.

HALGI MASHALFI

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