TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said the police had named 12 suspects in the protest against the planned construction of New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) Kulon Progo that turned chaotic in front of the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (UIN) on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
“From the 69 people arrested, 12 have been named suspects,” he said at the Police Staff College (PTIK) on Thursday, May 3, 2018.
Setyo said the investigation into the suspects was still afoot, thus he could not yet detail the role of each suspect.
Read: Police Pursue Mastermind Behind the NYIA Airport Riot
The Tuesday’s protest ended in chaos with protesters hurling molotov cocktails at policemen and the arson of a police post. The 69 arrested protesters comprised 59 males while the rest were females.
Setyo said the protest, in which some UIN students took part, was voicing demands irrelevant to labor issues. “They also staged the protest bereft of a prior notice,” he said.
The chairman of the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII), Faizi Zain, meanwhile, said the demonstration was a far cry from its initial objectives, which were voicing labor issues to mark the May Day. The protest, in fact, turned out to exude rejection against the construction of NYIA and President Jokowi’s nine-point development programs, popularly known as Nawa Cita.
Faizi also dismissed suspicions that the protest was designed to end in chaos.
M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH
